Department for Transport

Tyne and Wear Metro: Rolling Stock

Mr Stephen Hepburn: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what recent discussions he has had with Nexus on the (a) procurement, (b) delivery and (c) roll-out of the new fleet of trains for the Tyne and Wear Metro.

Mr Stephen Hepburn: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that the proposed new fleet of Metro rolling stock will be introduced onto the network by 2021.

Jesse Norman: Nexus provide the Department for Transport with regular updates on this procurement work as part of its regular reporting. Nexus are responsible for the management of the procurement, delivery and rollout of the new fleet of trains.

Driving Tests: Translation Services

Ben Lake: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment his Department has made of the potential merits of providing language translation services for non-English speaking candidates during UK driving tests.

Jesse Norman: The Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency withdrew the facility for driving test candidates to use voiceovers during theory tests and interpreters during theory and practical tests on 7 April 2014. The merits or otherwise of providing translation services for non-English speaking candidates during driving tests was previously considered during a consultation on this issue in 2013.

Heathrow Express Railway Line

Jon Trickett: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the press release, GWR to manage Heathrow Express service, published in the Railway Gazettee on 28 March 2018, for what reason the contingent liabilities relating to the deal between Heathrow Airport Limited, First Greater Western Limited and the Department for Transport was not announced until 11 June 2018 in a Written Ministerial Statement (HCWS748).

Joseph Johnson: The actual legal agreements enabling GWR to operate Heathrow Express services were not signed until 17 April, following which officials have been in discussion with the Treasury Officer of Accounts about the nature of these contingent liabilities and whether they fell under existing Departmental activities or should be notified as new contingent liabilities. I apologise for the resultant delay in notifying Parliament.

Railways: Season Tickets

Peter Kyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment he has made of the implications for his policies of the Passenger Rail Usage statistics, published by the Office for Road and Rail on 14 June 2018 that reports a 9.2 per cent fall in season ticket journeys; and if he will make a statement.

Joseph Johnson: The Department for Transport has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Railways: Season Tickets

Peter Kyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will take into account the Passenger Rail Usage statistics, published by the Office of Road and Rail on 14 June 2018 on season ticket usage, in the development of policy on part-time rail season tickets.

Joseph Johnson: The Department for Transport has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy

Fracking: Lancashire

Caroline Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, if he will postpone a decision on hydraulic fracturing at the Preston New Road well site until the conclusion of judicial review proceedings in respect of Cuadrilla Bowland Limited’s environmental permit for Preston New Road.

Claire Perry: There is no set timeframe for my rt. hon. Friend the Secretary of State to take a decision on an application for Hydraulic Fracturing Consent. The Government has always been clear that shale gas development must be safe and environmentally sound. We are committed to ensuring a rigorous, evidence-based approach is taken to reviewing any applications for hydraulic fracturing.Hydraulic Fracturing Consent approval will not be issued unless the Secretary of State is satisfied that the legislative conditions in the Petroleum Act 1998 have been met and that he is otherwise satisfied that it is appropriate to issue consent.

Fracking: Lancashire

Caroline Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what the timescale is for his decision on Cuadrilla Bowland Limited’s hydraulic fracturing consent application for their shale gas site at Preston New Road in Lancashire.

Claire Perry: There is no set timeframe for my rt. hon. Friend the Secretary of State to take a decision on an application for Hydraulic Fracturing Consent. The Government has always been clear that shale gas development must be safe and environmentally sound. We are committed to ensuring a rigorous, evidence-based approach is taken to reviewing any applications for hydraulic fracturing.Hydraulic Fracturing Consent approval will not be issued unless the Secretary of State is satisfied that the legislative conditions in the Petroleum Act 1998 have been met and that he is otherwise satisfied that it is appropriate to issue consent.

Cuadrilla Resources

Caroline Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, whether he has instructed the Infrastructure and Projects Authority to begin conducting financial resilience tests on Cuadrilla Bowland Ltd; and if he will publish the (a) details of those tests and (b) timetable for their completion.

Claire Perry: My rt. hon. Friend the Secretary of State set out in the Written Ministerial Statement of 25 January 2018 that we will look at the financial resilience of all companies wishing to carry out hydraulic fracturing operations alongside their application for Hydraulic Fracturing Consent. Therefore I have asked the Infrastructure and Projects Authority to conduct a financial resilience assessment of Cuadrilla as part of their application for Hydraulic Fracturing Consent. The details and timetable for the completion of the assessment are a matter for the Infrastructure and Projects Authority.

Fracking

Caroline Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, pursuant to the Answer of 29 May 2018 to Question 146305 on Fracking, and with reference to Written Ministerial Statement HCWS690, what discussions Ministers and Officials from his Department had with (a) shale gas industry trade bodies, (b) shale gas operators, (c) civil society organisations, and (d) local people in areas where fracking is proposed prior to making that Statement; and if he will publish details of those discussions.

Claire Perry: Ministers and officials regularly discuss a range of energy policy matters, including shale gas extraction, with stakeholders.

Fire Prevention: Insulation

John Healey: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, if he will place the project specification used to commission the Manufacturing Technology Centre to look at the removal and replacement processes for cladding systems in the Library.

Richard Harrington: This project was initiated following a proposal from the Manufacturing Technology Centre to InnovateUK. Due to the urgency of the work, no formal project specification was developed. Instead, InnovateUK, BEIS and the Department for Communities and Local Government agreed this exploratory research and development should be undertaken.

Directors: Females

Dawn Butler: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what steps the Government is taking to increase the number of women from black and minority ethnic backgrounds at (a) FTSE 100 boards and (b) the highest level of business.

Andrew Griffiths: Diversity and inclusion in the boardroom and the workplace is a hugely important element of building an economy that works for all. The Government is committed to a cohesive society, where everyone – no matter what their background – has the opportunity to enter into and progress at work and achieve on merit. Sir John Parker’s business-led diversity review into ethnic minorities on FTSE boards published in November 2017, showed that only about 8% of FTSE 100 Directors were from an ethnic minority background, and just over 2% were British citizens from an ethnic minority background. That is why Government supports and has been promoting the recommendation made by Sir John that all FTSE 100 companies should have at least one director of colour by 2021. Baroness McGregor-Smith's 'Race in the workplace' review also set out a range of actions for business and Government. We have been working with Business in the Community and others to support employers to make these changes, including through sharing of good practice and guidance material. The Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy has created a Business Diversity and Inclusion Group, chaired by me, to provide strategic leadership on this agenda, and to help deliver a clear and coordinated message to the business community on what they need to do.

Energy Companies Obligation

Caroline Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what assessment his Department has made of whether the affordable warmth component of the Energy Company Obligation that will come into effect on September 2018 will be more focused on those living in fuel poverty in (a) England, (b) Wales and (c) Great Britain compared to the current eligibility criteria.

Claire Perry: The current Energy Company Obligation (ECO) runs until September 2018. Seventy percent of the current scheme, Affordable Warmth, is focused on low income and fuel poor households. The remaining part of the scheme, the Carbon Emissions Reduction Obligation is available for all households. The Department has recently consulted on the future ECO scheme that will run from October 2018 until March 2022, and the response to consultation will be published shortly.

Funerals: Prices

Sir Mark Hendrick: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, if he will introduce a fair funerals pledge to obligate funeral directors to advertise their lowest-price funeral packages.

Andrew Griffiths: The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA), the UK’s independent competition authority, has recently launched a market study into the funerals market. The study will investigate whether the practices of funeral directors around transparency of pricing information prevents people from making informed choices when purchasing funeral services. It will consider what further help can be provided to support those already facing very challenging circumstances.The Government is committed to ensuring well functioning markets and will consider the recommendations of the CMA upon conclusion of the study.

Company Accounts: Pay

James Frith: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what estimate he has made of the number of businesses in England that have a statutory duty to report on payment practices and performances; how many of those businesses have defaulted on that duty since its introduction; and what steps the Government have taken in relation to those business that have so defaulted.

Andrew Griffiths: Based on 2018 data, we estimate around 15,000 businesses in England to be in scope of the duty to report on payment practices and performance. The statutory duty was introduced last year and applies to businesses’ first full financial year after 5th April 2017; we therefore anticipate the majority of reports to be filed in July and October 2018. The Government will be monitoring this first year of results and we encourage anyone who is concerned that a business might not have complied, or may have made a false statement, to raise this by contacting the Department who will deal with concerns confidentially.

Business: Billing

James Frith: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, whether he has consulted industry representatives on placing the powers on the prompt payment code within the Office of the Small Business Commissioner.

Andrew Griffiths: The recently announced call for evidence on eliminating unfair payment practices will seek views on how the government can go further to deliver a fair payment culture. The Small Business Commissioner provides advice and support to build the confidence and capability of small businesses, including working with the current administrators of the Prompt Payment Code, the Chartered Institute of Credit Management, to foster a culture change in payment practices.

Wylfa Power Station

Stuart C. McDonald: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what assessment his Department made of Hitachi’s nuclear power safety record in advance of considering private sector involvement in the Wylfa nuclear project.

Richard Harrington: Nuclear power is proven technology with modern reactors capable of producing safe and secure low carbon electricity over many decades. Reactors deployed in the UK must meet the robust independent regulatory requirements which include early assessment of the safety, security and environmental impacts of reactor designs through the Generic Design Assessment (GDA), prior to any application for a site-specific statutory Nuclear Site Licence. This is a robust process, taking several years which ensures that all aspects of new station design are thoroughly assessed prior to construction and operation. Hitachi’s UK ABWR reactor design completed GDA in December 2017 and full details of that assessment are available at www.onr.org.uk/new-reactors/uk-abwr/index.htm .

Sizewell C Power Station

Stuart C. McDonald: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what discussions his Department had with representatives of EDF Energy on funding options for Sizewell C nuclear power station in Suffolk.

Richard Harrington: The Government regularly engages with a number of new build developers on a range of issues relevant to delivering new nuclear projects including financing. These discussions are commercially sensitive and it is therefore not appropriate to provide details.

Bradwell B Power Station: Environment

Stuart C. McDonald: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what assessment his Department has made of the environmental effect of Bradwell B nuclear plant in Essex.

Richard Harrington: As part of the process to designate a National Policy Statement (NPS) for nuclear power generation in 2011, the Government undertook a strategic siting assessment of potentially suitable sites, including an Appraisal of Sustainability. The conclusions of these assessments were included in an annex to the final NPS. https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/47860/1943-nps-nuclear-power-annex-volII.pdf.The Government is working towards a new NPS for nuclear power stations deploying after 2025 and intends to consult on a draft NPS in 2019. Siting assessments and Appraisals of Sustainability will be undertaken for those sites listed in the draft NPS. CGN’s UK HPR1000 reactor, which is proposed for deployment at Bradwell, commenced the GDA process in January 2017. More information can be found at www.ukhpr1000.co.uk/. The GDA is a robust process conducted jointly by the Office of Nuclear Regulation and the Environment Agency over many years, ensuring that all aspects of new station design, including safety, security and environmental impacts, are properly assessed prior to construction and operation.

Nuclear Power Stations: Construction

Stuart C. McDonald: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what discussions his Department has had it's counterpart in South Korea on (a) new nuclear power stations in the UK and (b) funding options for Moorside project in Cumbria.

Richard Harrington: The Government regularly engages with a number of new build developers on a range of issues relevant to delivering new nuclear projects including financing. These discussions are commercially sensitive and it is therefore not appropriate to provide details.

Sellafield

Stuart C. McDonald: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what discussions his Department has had with (a) it's Chinese counterpart and (b) representatives of State Nuclear Power Technology Corporation on the Moorside nuclear reactor project in Cumbria.

Richard Harrington: The Department has engaged with a number of parties with respect to the proposed sale of NuGen, developers of the proposed Moorside project in Cumbria. These discussions are commercially sensitive so we are unable to provide details.

Nuclear Power Stations: Construction

Stewart Malcolm McDonald: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what risk assessment his Department has made of the involvement of foreign companies in the delivery of the UK's new nuclear programme.

Richard Harrington: The Government keeps issues of risk around foreign ownership in the nuclear sector under continuous review. In September 2016 we announced reforms to the ownership and control of critical infrastructure to ensure that the full implications of foreign ownership are scrutinised for the purposes of national security. Secondary legislation to strengthen the Government’s powers to scrutinise mergers and takeovers that may raise national security concerns came into force in June 2018 and we are currently considering responses to our consultation regarding long term reforms.

Radioactive Waste

Stewart Malcolm McDonald: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what plans he has for nuclear waste management in the event that there is no capacity for deep disposal of such waste.

Richard Harrington: Higher activity radioactive waste (which includes high level waste and intermediate level waste) is safely and securely stored in above ground storage facilities. Such storage will continue until the availability of a deep geological disposal facility.

Nuclear Power Stations: Construction

Carol Monaghan: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, whether it is his Department’s policy to compile a risk register for proposed nuclear power stations.

Richard Harrington: The Department develops and maintains risk registers with respect to specific major projects and programmes, including across the nuclear portfolio.

UK Research and Innovation: Directors

Nic Dakin: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what steps he is taking to ensure that UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) fulfils its mission to push the frontiers of human knowledge and understanding by appointing active research scientists to the UKRI Board.

Mr Sam Gyimah: In line with the Higher Education and Research Act (2017), the Government has appointed UKRI Board members with experience across research, innovation and development, and on commercial and financial matters. This enables the UKRI Board to support and hold the organisation to account, ensuring it delivers effectively, rather than to supply discipline-specific expertise. That expertise is provided by the councils, who are uniquely positioned to understand the latest challenges and opportunities in their specific field, and they include a range of experts, including active researchers.

Foreign and Commonwealth Office

Nicaragua: Demonstrations

Jared O'Mara: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what representations his Department has made to the Nicaraguan Government on recent protests in that country.

Sir Alan Duncan: The UK has been very clear with the Nicaraguan Government that they must take responsibility for ending the current violence and protecting human rights, particularly the rights to freedom of expression and assembly.These messages have been delivered in two meetings between the Head of Latin America Department and the Presidential Advisor on International Relations, and in a public statement by the British Ambassador to Nicaragua on 5 June that was featured by the Nicaraguan press. We also raised our concerns at the Organisation of American States General Assembly on 5 June in Washington where the UK is a Permanent Observer.We will continue to monitor the situation closely and raise our concerns with the Nicaraguan Government at every opportunity.

Burma: Internally Displaced People

Nigel Dodds: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent discussions he has had with the authorities in Myanmar on the displacement of residents in Kachin.

Mark Field: The Foreign Secretary raised his concerns about the fighting in Kachin State in his most recent call with Burma's State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi on 11 June. He called for Burma's military to exercise restraint and allow humanitarian access. Our Ambassador to Burma expressed concern about the military's treatment of civilians in Kachin in his meeting with Burma's Commander in Chief on 3 May. The Minister for Asia and the Pacific issued a statement on 11 May calling on all parties to the conflict to cease fighting, protect civilians, and return fully to peace talks, which the UK supports and which seek to bring to an end 70 years of internal conflict in Burma.

Yemen: UN Special Adviser On the Prevention of Genocide

Dan Carden: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what representations his Department has made to the United Nations Special Adviser on the Prevention of Genocide on the situation in Hudaydah, Yemen.

Alistair Burt: The UK has been in constant contact with relevant UN agencies and our regional and international partners since the beginning of the military activity around Hodeidah. We continue to urge all parties to respect International Humanitarian Law and prioritise the protection of civilians. We have seen no evidence to indicate a need to raise this topic with the UN.

Yemen: Military Intervention

Dan Carden: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what representations he has made to his international counterparts on upholding (a) international law and (b) UN Security Council Resolution 2417 in respect of the planned military assault on Hudaydah Port, Yemen.

Alistair Burt: ​We are in regular contact with the Coalition about the need to ensure that any military operations in and around Hodeidah are conducted in accordance with International Humanitarian Law (IHL), including on the protection of civilians, and do not disrupt commercial and humanitarian flows through the port. The Foreign Secretary also made representations to his UAE and Saudi counterparts on 9 and 10 June respectively. I spoke with my UAE counterpart, Deputy Foreign Minister Gargash, on 13 and 16 June to discuss this and have received assurances that IHL and humanitarian concerns are being factored into operational planning. At all levels, including through regular engagement by our Ambassadors, we have underlined the critical importance of maintaining humanitarian and commercial flows through Hodeidah and Saleef ports. We continue to urge all parties to respect International Humanitarian Law and prioritise the protection of civilians.

Department for Exiting the European Union

UK Relations With EU

Hilary Benn: To ask the Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union, if he will publish a list of the UK/EU negotiating groups that are discussing the future partnership with the EU.

Mr Robin Walker: We have made good progress on the outstanding WA issues since March European Council on topics including goods, customs, intellectual property, ongoing police and judicial cooperation in criminal matters, ongoing judicial cooperation in civil and commercial matters, data, public procurement, Euratom, Union procedures, administrative procedures and administrative cooperation procedures.We have already published the topics for discussion on the future framework jointly with the EU. This incorporates the economic and security partnerships outlined by the Prime Minister, as well as the institutional framework that will underpin them and other cross-cutting issues.https://www.gov.uk/government/news/topics-for-discussions-on-the-future-framework-at-forthcoming-meetingsSince then we have had a series of productive discussions and have published detailed slides and papers covering:Framework for the UK-EU Economic PartnershipCompany Law (accounting and audit)Civil Judicial CooperationData ProtectionTransportScience, Research and InnovationFramework for the UK-EU Security PartnershipExchange and protection of classified informationConsultation and cooperation on external securitySecurity, law enforcement and criminal justiceUK participation in GalileoBenefits of a new Data Protection agreementThe British people voted to leave the EU and Government is focused on delivering this historic task. The whole of Government is working hard to ensure the UK can fully seize the opportunities offered by withdrawing from the EU.



Topics For Discussion
(PDF Document, 47.66 KB)

Department of Health and Social Care

Health Services: Children

Sarah Champion: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the recommendation from the Interim Report of the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse, published on 25 April 2018, what plans he has to develop a national policy for the training and use of chaperones in the treatment of children in healthcare services.

Jackie Doyle-Price: The Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse published its Interim Report on 25 April. The Report contains a series of recommendations for specific changes, several of which are directed at the Government. The Government welcomes the Report and is now considering the Inquiry’s recommendations very carefully. We will respond fully in due course.

General Practitioners

Royston Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what the average cost to the public purse is of a GP appointment in (a) England, (b) the South East and (c) Southampton.

Royston Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what proportion of GP appointments was missed in (a) England, (b) the South East and (c) Southampton in each of the last five years.

Royston Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what the average GP consultation time is with a patient in (a) England, (b) the South East and (c) Southampton.

Royston Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what plans his Department has to encourage the use of technology to reduce waiting times for GP appointments.

Steve Brine: Information on the average cost to the public purse of a general practitioner (GP) appointment is not available. Information on the proportion of missed GP appointments is held by each individual practice and it is not collected or held centrally. The average GP consultation time with a patient is determined by each practice, depending on the needs and demands of their patient list. Hence, the information is not held centrally. NHS England is actively encouraging the use of online services. The actual offer will differ from practice to practice, but almost all practices offer online appointment booking, repeat prescription ordering and access to GP records. Giving people access to their records and, in particular test results, often eliminates the need for consultations. In addition, £45 million over three years has been made available to support the implementation of online consultation in primary care. Practices are also encouraged to use online or telephone triage and signposting to alternative services.

Drugs: Packaging

Julian Sturdy: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of increased uniformity of medication packaging across manufacturers to enable the efficient identification of all medicines.

Julian Sturdy: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what representations he has received on the desirability of increased uniformity of medication packaging across manufacturers from the (a) public and (b) health service.

Julian Sturdy: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he has made an assessment of the implications for the safety of patients of the variety in packaging of the same medicines; and if he will make a statement.

Jackie Doyle-Price: The Government has produced guidance in conjunction with experts in clinical practice and in the field of design for those who produce medicines packaging which recommends the judicious use of colour to ensure medicines are well differentiated to reduce the likelihood of error. In developing the principles within this guidance, the views of healthcare professionals and patients have been considered. While there are detailed legal requirements with respect to the content of the information provided on the packaging there are no provisions with respect to colour and design of the packaging when presented to the market place. Published research points to the similarity of packaging contributing adversely to selection errors in the pharmacy and other clinical settings. In addition, we are also mindful of the views expressed by patients whereby differences in appearance of medicines from different suppliers can be confusing. Where specific safety issues have been identified, for example with medicines containing warfarin, particular colours both for the tablets and the packaging have been adopted as an industry standard.

Drugs

Ronnie Cowan: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent discussions he has had with the Home Secretary on lead ministerial responsibility for drugs policy.

Steve Brine: The complexity and pervasiveness of drug misuse and the harms it causes mean that no one department can tackle it alone. The Home Office remains the lead department for policy on legislation on the misuse of drugs and implementation of the 2017 Drug Strategy, working closely with the Department of Health and Social Care, which is responsible for the recovery strand of the Strategy, Ministry of Justice and other interested Government Departments and agencies. There are no plans to change this. Ministers and officials from both the Home Office and the Department of Health and Social Care regularly hold discussions to develop a collaborative approach to reduce illicit and harmful drug use.

Organs: Donors

Eleanor Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department has taken to include differing (a) faith and (b) cultural perspectives in its consultation on opt-out organ donation.

Jackie Doyle-Price: The Department took a number of steps to raise awareness of the consultation on organ and tissue donation consent amongst different communities, which received over 17,000 responses.- The consultation was publicised across various black and Asian media platforms, through Ministerial interviews on both national and regional black, Asian and minority ethnic (BAME) radio shows and editorials in prominent BAME publications, through television networks and editorials from faith leaders in popular religious publications;- I wrote to faith leaders directly to encourage them to promote the consultation; and- More widely, the consultation was promoted on social media and the Department worked with a number of organ donation-related organisations to highlight the consultation via their respective platforms. In addition, NHS Blood and Transplant commissioned Ipsos MORI to conduct 26 focus groups across England with representatives from a number of BAME groups and faith groups. More recently, on 9 May, I hosted an event with faith leaders to discuss barriers to organ donation and to explore what more can be done to engage with the different communities.

Donors: Ethnic Groups

Eleanor Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what targets had been set out for BAME (a) blood, (b) stem cell and (c) organ donation in each of the last five years; and to what extent each of those targets were met.

Eleanor Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what targets there are for the amount of BAME (a) blood, (b) stem cells and (c) organs donated in (a) 2017-18, (b) 2018-19 and (c) 2019-2020.

Jackie Doyle-Price: There are no targets published in relation to Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic blood, stem cell and organ donation.

Department of Health and Social Care: Re-employment

Alex Sobel: Can the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many staff made redundant by his Department between January and March 2017 have been reemployed by his Department on (a) permanent, (b) agency or (c) contractor contracts.

Caroline Dinenage: No staff have been reemployed by the Department who previously left under compulsory or voluntary redundancy, between January and March 2017.

Department of Health and Social Care: Vacancies

Alex Sobel: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what the number of job vacancies in his Department is.

Caroline Dinenage: As of 18 June 2018 there are 28 advertised vacancies in the Department. Due to the way information about vacant posts is held in the department, this is the most accurate figure we are able to provide.

NHS: Finance

Mr Stephen Hepburn: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that there is adequate funding for NHS services in (a) Jarrow constituency and (b) South Tyneside.

Stephen Barclay: The allocation of funding to clinical commissioning groups (CCGs) is informed by the estimation of the relative health needs of local areas, based on a formula. The formula is based on independent academic research and includes the factors statistically associated with higher or lower need per head for NHS services. The funding formula is based on the expected size of the population of each CCG and adjustments, or weights, per head for relative need for health care services and unavoidable costs between CCGs. The CCG then decides how this funding is deployed across the geography and population for which it is responsible to ensure that the needs of the local population are met. NHS England meets regularly with each CCG to review its financial position as the year progresses.

Breast Cancer: Screening

Mr Stephen Hepburn: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the Answer of 15 May 2018 to question 141319 on Breast Cancer Screening, what estimate he has made of the number of women have been affected by the NHS breast screening programme failure in (a) Jarrow constituency, (b) South Tyneside and (c) the North East.

Steve Brine: Initial precautionary analysis identified 195,565 women, registered with general practitioners in England, who may not have been sent an invitation for a mammogram between the ages of 68 and up to their 71st birthday. This included:- 715 women in Jarrow;- 1,774 women in South Tyneside; and- 10,224 women in the North East. Following further detailed record review by Public Health England, using data provided by NHS Digital, 122,726 of these women were confirmed as not having received a screening invitation in the appropriate period. All of these women have already been written to and some of the women contacted have accepted the offer and received their screen.

General Practitioners: North East

Mr Stephen Hepburn: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what plans he has to increase the number of GPs in (a) Jarrow constituency, (b) South Tyneside and (c) the North East.

Steve Brine: South Tyneside Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) supports a number of initiatives to attract general practitioners (GPs) to the region. The CCG is in the process of developing new career start posts, which will enable newly qualified GPs to apply for supported roles. The GPs will receive mentorship and help to focus on their clinical and personal development, with the hope that GPs will continue into permanent roles within South Tyneside. In addition, it has been announced that Sunderland University will be opening a medical school in September 2018. The school will specialise in GP and psychiatric training, and it is envisioned that 50 students will enrol in 2019 and 100 new students in 2020. While the students will not be fully qualified GPs for a number of years, the CCG is establishing early links with the medical school, which it hopes will put the CCG in a better position to encourage students to remain within the region once their training is complete.

Gambling: Rehabilitation

Sir Mark Hendrick: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department plans to expand NHS services based outside London to treat gambling addiction.

Sir Mark Hendrick: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many young people in Lancashire have received treatment for gambling addiction since January 2017.

Steve Brine: There are no plans to expand National Health Service-funded services to treat gambling addiction. There are a range of services available to problem gamblers, details of which can be found on the NHS Choices website at the following: www.nhs.uk/Livewell/addiction/Pages/gamblingaddiction.aspx Data on the number of young people in Lancashire receiving treatment for gambling addiction are not held centrally.

NHS: Finance

Sir Mark Hendrick: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if an assessment can be made on the current funding settlement for the NHS and if it meets current levels of demand.

Stephen Barclay: My Rt. hon. Friend the Prime Minister has announced a five-year funding agreement which will see the National Health Service budget grow by £20 billion by 2023/24. This will deliver an average annual growth of 3.4% over the next five years. The Government will work with the NHS to develop a ten-year plan setting out how the money will be used for the future of the health service. The ten-year plan will get the NHS back on the path to delivering agreed core performance standards, and drive the reforms that will deliver a better and more sustainable NHS.

Social Services

Kate Hollern: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will ensure that the forthcoming Green Paper on Social Care will include greater (a) support for carers and (b) funding and other support for the social care system to meet increasing demand in terms of complexity of care requirements and overall demand.

Caroline Dinenage: Carers are vital partners in the health and social care system, and they need to be at the heart of discussions on a sustainable settlement for social care. The Green Paper will include a focus on carers and how society supports them. Social care continues to be a key priority for this Government. In addition to the £2 billion announced at Spring Budget 2017, we have announced a further £150 million for 2018/19, giving councils access to up to £9.4 billion more dedicated funding for adult social care in total over three years. An ageing society means that we need to reach a longer-term sustainable settlement for social care. That is why the Government has committed to publishing a Green Paper by autumn 2018 setting out our proposals for reform.

Hospitals: Discharges

Royston Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he (a) is taking and (b) plans to take to reduce the number of patients that are discharged from hospital late.

Royston Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what proportion of patients in hospital had a delayed discharge in each of the last five years.

Royston Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what estimate he has made of the cost to the public purse of delayed discharge of a patient.

Caroline Dinenage: Despite the National Health Service being busier than ever with hospital admissions, the majority of patients are discharged quickly. The Government has already taken significant action to help reduce delayed transfers of care, including providing an additional £2 billion of funding for social care, setting expectations locally for reductions in delayed transfers of care and asking the Care Quality Commission to undertake a series of local system reviews to evaluate the boundary between health and social care’s functionality. The Department are also working with system partners to provide a package of support to help local areas improve transfers out of hospital and reduce delays. Overall, there are 1,827 more beds available each day since February 2017. But there is still more to do. Data surrounding the proportion of patients in hospital with a delayed discharge is not collected centrally. NHS England publishes monthly reports on the total delayed days during the month for all patients delayed throughout the month and this can be found at their website: https://www.england.nhs.uk/statistics/statistical-work-areas/delayed-transfers-of-care/statistical-work-areas-delayed-transfers-of-care-delayed-transfers-of-care-data-2018-19/ Data is shown at provider organisation level, from NHS trusts, NHS foundation trusts and primary care trusts. Data is also shown by local authority that is responsible for each patient delayed. No formal assessment has been made of the cost to the public purse of delayed discharge of a patient.

Medical Equipment

Mrs Anne Main: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that (a) heart monitors, (b) TENS machines and (c) mobility aids that are no longer required are returned for use by other patients.

Caroline Dinenage: There is a responsibility on National Health Service trusts to make the very best use of all resources and items where they are safely and legally reusable and returnable. The policy on the return of equipment is a matter for each individual NHS trust. The policy should be included in the trust’s Sustainable Development Management Plan (SDMP). The publication of a trust’s SDMP is a requirement under Service Condition 18 of the NHS Standard Contract. This should be available for inspection by any member of the public.

Medical Equipment

Mrs Anne Main: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department has plans to ensure that more medical equipment is returned and reused by other patients; and if he will make a statement.

Mrs Anne Main: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what estimate his Department has made of the cost to the public purse of reusable medical equipment that was not returned in each of the last three years.

Caroline Dinenage: The return, reuse or recycling of equipment is decided locally between the relevant commissioners and providers of equipment. There is a responsibility on National Health Service trusts to make the best use of all resources and items including recycling and reuse of equipment where it is safe and cost effective to do so. The Department does not collect data on expenditure on reusable medical equipment and no estimate has been made of these costs.

Hearing Impairment and Visual Impairment

Mrs Sharon Hodgson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that patients with sight and hearing impairments are able to access NHS services.

Caroline Dinenage: It is the responsibility of local providers and commissioners of NHS services to make the reasonable adjustments required by the Equality Act 2010 to ensure that disabled people, including those with sight and hearing impairments, are not placed at a substantial disadvantage compared to non-disabled people. Additionally, under the NHS Constitution, National Health Service organisations are required to provide high quality comprehensive services, based on clinical need, which do not discriminate between patients on the basis of disability, including sight and hearing impairments. In order to reduce the unacceptable variation in the provision of accessible information and communication support to disabled people, all organisations that provide NHS care or publicly-funded adult social care have been legally required to follow the Accessible Information Standard since 1 August 2016. This ensures that people with a disability, impairment or sensory loss are provided with information they can easily read or understand, with support, so they can communicate effectively with services. This will help ensure that they receive an improved standard of care and be more involved in how that care is delivered.

Sleeping Rough: Death

Neil Coyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the value of the process of safeguarding adult reviews into the deaths of people sleeping rough.

Caroline Dinenage: The Department has not made any specific assessment of the value of the process of safeguarding adult reviews into the deaths of people sleeping rough. The Care Act statutory guidance states that Safeguarding Adult Boards are required to order a Safeguarding Adult Review if an adult dies in their area and there is concern that partner agencies could have done more to prevent the death and protect the adult. This is because Safeguarding Adult Reviews are about learning and improving to prevent future deaths.

Vulnerable Adults

Matt Western: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many safeguarding adults reviews have been launched since 2010.

Caroline Dinenage: For the year 2015-16 there were 90 Safeguarding Adult Reviews, the following year 2016-17 there were 110. The Department does not hold data for years prior to 2015, this was the first year data was recorded on Safeguarding Adult Reviews.

Joint Replacements

Royston Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many joint replacements have taken place in each of the last five years.

Royston Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what the average cost to the public purse is for a (a) knee, (b) hip and (c) shoulder replacement.

Stephen Barclay: Information on how many joint replacements have taken place in each of the last five years is shown in the table below and provides a breakdown of individual episodes of care by procedure, including hip and knee replacements. The following table is a count of finished consultant episodes (FCE) for main or secondary procedures and interventions for joint replacements for financial years 2012/13 – 2016/17. YearFCEs for joint replacements2016/17225,9162015/16217,3332014/15217,3482013/14210,9152012/13202,172Source: Hospital Episode Statistics, NHS Digital Note:A FCE is a continuous period of admitted patient care under one consultant within one healthcare provider. FCEs are counted against the year in which they end. Figures do not represent the number of different patients, as a person may have more than one episode of care within the same stay in hospital or in different stays in the same year. Data for the estimated average unit cost to National Health Service providers for a knee, hip and shoulder replacement in 2016/17 is shown in the following table. The data is sourced from reference costs, which are the average unit cost to the NHS of providing defined services to NHS patients in England in a given financial year. Estimated average unit cost per one finished consultant episode (£ thousands) 2016-17Hip replacement£7.0Knee replacement£6.2Shoulder replacement£4.8Source: NHS Improvement Reference Costs The table uses the average reference costs for acute care and are collected by healthcare resource group, which are standard groupings of clinically similar treatments that consume similar levels of healthcare resource. The costs cover one episode of care under one consultant and do not include other elements of the patient pathway such as outpatient appointments.

Palliative Care

Royston Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what funding is available for palliative care services.

Caroline Dinenage: As with the vast majority of NHS services, the commissioning of palliative and end of life care is a local matter, over which individual clinical commissioning groups (CCGs) have responsibility. CCGs are best placed to understand the needs of local populations and fund services to meet those needs from the overall resource allocations they receive.

Dementia: Mental Health Services

Royston Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what talking therapies are available for dementia patients.

Caroline Dinenage: The Improving Access to Psychological Therapies (IAPT) programme began in 2008 and has transformed treatment of adult anxiety disorders and depression in England. Over 900,000 people now access IAPT services each year, and the Five Year Forward View for Mental Health has pledged to expand services further to see 1.5 million people treated for mental health problems every year by 2020/21 alongside improving quality. Although IAPT does not provide complex interventions for dementia, IAPT practitioners are able to treat common mental health disorders such as depression and anxiety which people with dementia may present with.

Carers

Royston Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what estimate he has made of the saving to the public purse of unpaid carers.

Caroline Dinenage: No substantive assessment of the savings to the public purse of unpaid carers has been made. Estimates of the value of unpaid care are frequently based on the cost of providing formal social care services as a direct substitute for unpaid care, and range widely.

Mental Illness: Children and Young People

Norman Lamb: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, when he plans to publish the outcome of the consultation on restraint and restrictive intervention for children and young people with learning disabilities, autism spectrum disorders and mental health issues.

Caroline Dinenage: Responses to the consultation on ‘Reducing the Need for Restraint and Restrictive Intervention’ have been analysed. The guidance is currently being updated in light of the responses and is due to be published soon.

Sandwell and West Birmingham Hospitals NHS Trust

Jonathan Ashworth: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the minutes of the Sandwell and West Birmingham Hospital Trust’s Board Meeting which took place on 3 May 2018, what contingency plans are in place in the event that The Hospital Company (Sandwell) (THC) goes into insolvency; when the latest weekly liaison between officials from his Department and THC took place; and what assessment has been made of the financial stability of THC in the latest weekly liaison between officials from his Department and THC.

Stephen Barclay: I visited the Trust on Thursday 14 June to discuss and listen to the different concerns and issues involved in ensuring the new hospital can be completed as quickly as possible. Officials from the Department of Health and Social Care are working closely on this matter with those from HM Treasury and the Infrastructure and Projects Authority and with relevant senior staff of the Sandwell and West Birmingham NHS Trust to ensure that the hospital is completed as quickly as is possible. As is to be expected with a situation like this, meetings and discussions are taking place with representatives from The Hospital Company (Sandwell) on a very frequent basis. Detailed contingency plans are being agreed with the trust should The Hospital Company declare insolvency.

Vaccination

Jonathan Ashworth: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the Answer of 6 June to Question 148807 on Vaccinatoin, on how many occasions the Government has adopted changes to immunisation programmes which the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation predicted would result in an increase in cases of infectious disease.

Steve Brine: The information is not held in the format requested and could only be obtained at disproportionate cost.

Pneumonia: Vaccination

Jonathan Ashworth: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the Answer of 6 June 2018 to Question 148810 on Pneumonia: Vaccination, if he will place in the Library the estimates reviewed by the Joint Committee on Vaccination, on the effect of the change in the infant vaccination schedule of the incidence of (a) invasive pneumococcal disease and (b) non-invasive pneumococcal disease.

Jonathan Ashworth: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the Answer of 6 June 2018 to Question 148808 on Pneumonia: Vaccination, whether the forthcoming Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation review of the pneumococcal vaccination programme will include arrangements for the immunisation of (a) infants, (b) adults and (c) those at higher risk of infection as a result of medical conditions.

Steve Brine: Public Health England has undertaken modelling on the impact of a reduced dose pneumococcal conjugate vaccine schedule on invasive pneumococcal disease in the United Kingdom. The Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) has considered the relative impact on non-invasive disease. As the JCVI is reviewing the pneumococcal programme, the estimates requested are not yet finalised. The modelling will be submitted for publication in a peer reviewed journal in 2018. The minutes of the JCVI pneumococcal sub-committee and the JCVI meetings, held on 10 May and 6 June respectively, will be published on or before 18 July 2018. The JCVI keeps all immunisation programmes under review. The JCVI is undertaking a full review of the pneumococcal programme, and will review their advice on childhood, adult and risk group vaccination.

Department for International Development

Palestinians: Overseas Aid

Mr Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, how much financial assistance her Department has given to projects in Palestine in each of the last ten years.

Alistair Burt: An error has been identified in the written answer given on 29 May 2018.The correct answer should have been:

DFID’s Official Development Assistance directly to West Bank and Gaza Strip 2007 to 20162007200820092010201120122013201420152016£11.2m£55.4m£56.1m£58.0m£120.5m£58.3m£95.9m£109.4m£41.4m£43.9m 2007200820092010201120122013201420152016£26.8m£74.4m£81.0m£85.0m£103.6m£82.8m£82.3m£111.9m£75.1m£43.9mThis includes DFID’s bilateral ODA to the West Bank and Gaza Strip including DFID’s contribution to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) for basic services and protection for Palestine refugees in the region. In the National Statistics “ Statistics on International Development” the UNRWA contribution is included in DFID’s multilateral ODA total. This is due to the OECD DAC international code rules.

Alistair Burt: DFID’s Official Development Assistance directly to West Bank and Gaza Strip 2007 to 20162007200820092010201120122013201420152016£11.2m£55.4m£56.1m£58.0m£120.5m£58.3m£95.9m£109.4m£41.4m£43.9m 2007200820092010201120122013201420152016£26.8m£74.4m£81.0m£85.0m£103.6m£82.8m£82.3m£111.9m£75.1m£43.9mThis includes DFID’s bilateral ODA to the West Bank and Gaza Strip including DFID’s contribution to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) for basic services and protection for Palestine refugees in the region. In the National Statistics “ Statistics on International Development” the UNRWA contribution is included in DFID’s multilateral ODA total. This is due to the OECD DAC international code rules.

Department for Education

Sex and Relationship Education

Sarah Champion: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether his Department plans to publish the draft guidance on Relationships and Sex Education by the summer recess 2018.

Nick Gibb: The Department recently conducted a thorough engagement process on the scope and content of Relationships Education and Relationships and Sex Education, and on the status of Personal, Social, Health and Economic education (PSHE). This involved a wide range of interested stakeholders and a public call for evidence.The Department plans to publish the results of the call for evidence in due course alongside a consultation on draft regulations and accompanying statutory guidance, before laying the regulations in the House for debate.

Domestic Violence: Victim Support Schemes

Sarah Champion: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what role his Department has played in the (a) external audit of domestic abuse services and (b) full review of domestic abuse services being undertaken by the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government.

Nadhim Zahawi: Department for Education officials have taken part in meetings with officials from the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government and other departments on this issue, to ensure that the audit and review take account of the needs of children affected by domestic abuse. We will continue to support this and other parts of the Government’s programme to tackle this abuse.

Children: Day Care

Alex Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether he has made an assessment he has made of the effect of increases in the (a) national living wage and (b) minimum employer pensions contributions on the average hourly cost of providing childcare; and if he will make a statement.

Nadhim Zahawi: By 2019-20 we will be spending around £6 billion on childcare support – a record amount. This includes around £1 billion extra per year to deliver 30 hours of free childcare and fund the increase in hourly rates that we introduced in April 2017.Our average funding rates are based on the department’s ‘Review of Childcare Costs’ which was described as “thorough and wide ranging” by the National Audit Office. The review looked at both current and future cost pressures.We continue to monitor delivery costs and have recently commissioned new research to provide us with further robust and detailed data of the costs of delivering childcare for under five-year-olds using a representative sample of early years providers.In terms of the rate of the National Living Wage, the independent Low Pay Commission makes recommendations taking in to account the state of the economy and evidence from a wide range of business and workers representatives.

Pre-school Education: Finance

Alex Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether he plans to review his policy on the early years national funding formula.

Nadhim Zahawi: We introduced the Early Years National Funding Formula (EYNFF) in April 2017 to allocate government funding for the three-and four-year-old entitlement in a fair and transparent manner. We have been clear that getting the funding right is critical to the successful delivery of our entitlements for three-and four-year-olds. So, we have committed to keep under review the data underpinning the EYNFF and we continue to monitor and evaluate the impacts of our free entitlements and funding arrangements.

Children: Day Care

Alex Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether he plans to review the effect of the introduction of 30 hours' free childcare on childcare businesses; and if he will make a statement.

Nadhim Zahawi: The rollout of 30 hours’ free childcare for working parents of three and four year olds has been a success, and 294,000 children benefited in the spring term, saving parents money and helping them to bring balance between work and family life. We continue to monitor both the implementation of 30 hours and also delivery costs. We have recently commissioned new research to provide us with further robust and detailed data of the costs of delivering childcare for under five-year-olds using a representative sample of early years providers. The department has awarded grants to the National Day Nurseries Association (NDNA) and the Professional Association of Childcare and Early Years (PACEY) to develop new business sustainability resources for childcare providers, which are available online at: https://www.earlyyearsbusinesszone.org.uk/ and https://www.pacey.org.uk/business/.A further package of support materials are also available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/early-years-business-sustainability.

Apprentices: Taxation

Alex Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what plans he has for the allocation of unspent apprenticeship levy funds; and whether such unspent funds will be ring fenced for skills development.

Alex Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether he has made an estimate of the underspend on the apprenticeship levy by April (a) 2019, (b) 2020 and (c) 2021; and if he will make a statement.

Anne Milton: The Department for Education has a ring-fenced apprenticeship budget which is set regardless of how much levy receipts are each year. This budget was £2.01 billion for the 2017-18 financial year and £2.23 billion for 2018-19. Spending on the apprenticeship programme is demand led, and employers can choose which apprenticeships they offer and how many. We do not anticipate that all employers who pay the levy will need or want to use all the funds available to them. Unspent funds are used to cover the ongoing training costs of apprentices that are already in training. They are also used to support levy-paying employers who spend more than the funds available in their accounts and to fund training for non-levy payers.

Children: Basic Skills

David Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps he is taken to improve the (a) literacy and (b) numeracy skills of children in England.

Nick Gibb: The Department has reformed the National Curriculum, to ensure pupils gain a firm foundation in literacy and mathematics, benchmarked against expectations in high performing jurisdictions. The Department has already seen that literacy and numeracy have improved since 2010. 81% of pupils met the expected standard in the Phonics Screening Check in 2017 up from 58% in 2012. The results of the 2016 Pupils in International Reading Literacy Study (PIRLS) saw England’s nine year old pupils achieving their highest average score since PIRLS began in 2001. These are the first pupils to take part in the PIRLS study since the Government’s education reforms in 2010. In addition, 61% of students reached the expected standard in reading, writing and mathematics at Key Stage 2 in 2017, an increase from 53% in 2016. To improve standards further, the Department is creating a national network of 35 English Hubs, and a Centre of Excellence for Literacy Teaching, backed by a £26.3 million investment. The hubs will focus on raising standards and sharing effective practice in early language and literacy in reception year and Key Stage 1. We have also established a network of 35 Maths Hubs across the country to lead transformational change in maths teaching from primary to age 18. They are delivering the £74 million Teaching for Mastery Programme which emphasises whole class teaching that builds mathematical knowledge systematically and in depth. Teaching for Mastery will reach over 11,000 primary and secondary schools by 2023.

Schools: Duke of Edinburgh's Award Scheme

David Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many schools take part in the Duke of Edinburgh award.

Nick Gibb: The Department for Education does not hold this information. However, data from the Duke of Edinburgh award’s annual report indicates that, in 2017 to 2018, there are 438,329 active Duke of Edinburgh award participants. The annual report also provides more detailed information on the number of new Duke of Edinburgh’s award entrants and the type of centre that they attend. The report can be accessed here: https://www.dofe.org/statistics. The Department of Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) and the Big Lottery Fund have committed £1 million to the Duke of Edinburgh’s award scheme via the #iwill Fund. This will help more disadvantaged young people take part in the scheme by supporting individuals, youth groups or the schools that they attend. The Department for Education is working closely with DCMS to help to ensure that all children and young people can have the opportunity to participate in high-quality programmes such as the Duke of Edinburgh’s award and the National Citizen Service.

National Union of Students

David Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, when he last met with representatives of the National Union of Students.

Mr Sam Gyimah: My right hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Education has not met representatives of the National Union of Students (NUS). As the Minister for Higher Education, I last met the NUS Executive and members of the Senior Leadership team on 22 February 2018.

Salford Academy Trust

Rebecca Long Bailey: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if he will publish the (a) reasons for and (b) evidential basis for his Department's decision on winding up Salford Academy Trust.

Nadhim Zahawi: Following consultation with the department, Salford Academy Trust (SAT) has decided that the best option for its academies is to merge with another trust. The department’s priority is to ensure that all pupils in SAT receive the best possible education and in this case, we have agreed to identify a trust to provide increased capacity to improve outcomes for pupils. The department is working closely with SAT to manage a smooth transition for its pupils. The decision on whether or not SAT winds up is a matter for the trust.

STEM Subjects: Apprentices

Dawn Butler: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps the Government is taking to equalise the gender balance in the take-up of STEM apprenticeships.

Anne Milton: We know that there are disparities in gender representation in apprenticeships in some sectors such as Engineering and Manufacturing Technologies, and we want to address these disparities through a range of activities. It is important to note that women accounted for 53.4 per cent of apprenticeship starts in 2016/17. Through the Year of Engineering 2018 and the Apprenticeship Diversity Champions Network we are championing gender representation in apprenticeships amongst employers in industries where improvement is needed - including making sure more women access science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) apprenticeships. We have made it easier for part-time workers to undertake apprenticeships, such as those with caring responsibilities and lone parents. With regard to careers advice we are working with employers to make sure the decisions girls make about their future education and career choices are well informed. We are undertaking work to assess the breadth and effectiveness of current careers provision in schools and colleges on STEM, and evaluating approaches to careers provision to encourage girls to consider jobs in STEM industries.

T-levels: Finance

James Frith: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what additional resources he has allocated to ensure the introduction of T levels by 2020; and what steps is he taking to ensure the value for money of the introduction of T levels.

Anne Milton: Once T Levels are fully rolled out there will be over £500 million additional funding per year for their delivery. This extra funding will pay for extended industry placements and the additional taught hours that will be needed for T Levels. Nearly £60 million of this funding has already been allocated to providers to help them build capacity for the improved industry placements that will form part of the new T Levels. The funding also includes up to £20 million to help teachers and leaders prepare for the implementation of T Levels. We are currently considering how best to provide this support, and information we gather from the data collection launched on 25 May will help to inform this.We are confident that T Levels will provide a substantial boost to national productivity and the life chances of many thousands of young people. As we introduce the technical education routes, we will explore value for money in a number of ways, including through commissioning an evaluation of the new routes and monitoring performance and destination data.

Apprentices: Disability

James Frith: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps his Department has taken to (a) consult and (b) respond to disabled young people who have secured an apprenticeship.

Anne Milton: Our Pacesetter project was established in 2017 with the aim of working with selected partners to test our policy approaches, and gain better understanding of the experiences of disabled apprentices. We work with organisations and individuals who have proven experience and success in this area, and can help us identify initiatives which work and can be scaled up, with a view to delivering tangible progress towards growing numbers of apprentices from this group. Pacesetters include local authorities, employment organisations, a special school and the learning disability charity Mencap. As part of department's annual Apprenticeship Evaluation Surveys, information is routinely collected about the experiences and satisfaction levels of apprentices that identify as having a disability. The Further Education Learner and Apprentices survey, which samples approximately 6,500 apprentices, collects detailed demographic and social mobility data along with information on barriers to learning. To inform our new funding policy, published in May 2018, we commissioned the Learning and Work Institute to interview providers, employers and third party organisations providing additional support to apprentices with a range of disabilities- selected for their experience working with this group. The report can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/exploring-funding-for-apprentices-with-additional-needs.  We have recently produced a new apprenticeship learner support guide following requests from organisations who offer careers support to those seeking to apply for an apprenticeship. It contains information for those seeking an apprenticeship and for those already in an apprenticeship and includes the support and funding available for those people with disabilities and for those who might require mental health support: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/a-guide-to-apprenticeships.

Apprentices: Disability

James Frith: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many disabled people were refused an apprenticeship as a result of failing a Further Education college's literacy and numeracy assessment.

Anne Milton: The information requested is not held centrally.Information on apprenticeships is collected via the Individualised Learner Record (ILR), based on information submitted by further education and training providers. However, the ILR does not hold data on people who were refused an apprenticeship.

T-levels: Publicity

James Frith: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment his Department has made of the level of parental awareness of the introduction of T levels; and what steps he is taking to raise parental awareness of T levels.

Anne Milton: We are already communicating with key audiences such as, providers, employers and awarding organisations, to increase awareness and understanding of T Levels. We will increase the pace of awareness-raising with parents, teachers and young people as we move closer to the first teaching of T Levels in 2020.

Gambling: Education

Sir Mark Hendrick: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what guidance is provided to pupils in secondary schools on the risks of gambling.

Nadhim Zahawi: This government wants to help all schools deliver a high-quality education to ensure that all young people are equipped with the knowledge they need to prepare them for adult life, including the risks associated with harmful behaviour and addiction. Schools are expected to promote the spiritual, moral, social and cultural development of pupils. We know that some schools choose to teach about gambling and addiction in an age-appropriate way, as part of their Personal, Social, Health and Economic (PSHE) education. The non-statutory PSHE programme of study, published by the PSHE Association, includes teaching about gambling and its psychological and financial impact. There are also organisations that work with schools and children to raise awareness of the risks around gambling, including the Young Gamblers Education Trust.

Early Intervention Grant

Dan Jarvis: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether his Department plans to increase council funding for early years intervention.

Nadhim Zahawi: Holding answer received on 18 June 2018



The 2015 Spending Review made available more than £200 billion until 2020 for councils to deliver the local services their communities want to see, including children’s services.In addition, by 2019-20 we will be spending around £6 billion on childcare support. This is more than any other government and this government support will make childcare more affordable and more accessible.Furthermore, in our ambitious plan ‘Unlocking Talent, Fulfilling Potential’ that the Department published in December 2017, we committed to a £100 million investment to help close the gap between disadvantaged children and their peers.My right hon. Friend, the Chancellor of the Exchequer has announced that the next spending review will be in 2019. This will, as normal, consider all elements of government spending, including local government funding and funding for early intervention.

Carillion

Thelma Walker: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to the Answer 5 March 2018 to Question 129461, what recent estimate he has made of the number of apprentices employed by Carillion who are yet to find alternative apprenticeship provision.

Anne Milton: The Department for Education has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Academies: North of England

Lucy Powell: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many business leaders have been matched by the Academy Ambassadors programme with multi-academy trusts operating in the Northern Powerhouse.

Nadhim Zahawi: The Department for Education has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Ministry of Justice

Prisoners: Females

Richard Burgon: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what the cost to the public purse has been of women serving prison sentences for non-violent crimes since 1 January 2018.

Dr Phillip Lee: An error has been identified in the written answer given on 02 May 2018.The correct answer should have been:

At 31 March 20187, there were 2,271 sentenced females in the prison population for non-violent crimes (everything but violence against the person) and an additional 445 on remand. This information is publicly available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/offender-management-statistics-quarterly-october-to-december-2017. Her Majesty’s Prisons and Probation Service (HMPPS), does not calculate separately the average cost of prisoners by any type of offence. However, HMPPS routinely publishes average costs per prisoner, costs per prison place and overall prison unit costs for each private and public sector prison in England and Wales, including all categories of the women’s estate. This information is produced on an annual basis and is published after the end of each financial year. The most recent published figures, for financial year 2016-17, can be accessed on the www.gov.uk website from the following link: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/prison-performance-statistics-2016-to-2017. Prison unit costs can be found within the Excel document Costs per prison place and cost per prisoner by individual prison establishment in the ‘Cost by Establishment’ tab. The courts have a range of sentences at their disposal including community sentences, suspended sentences, fines and custodial sentences. Custodial sentences are reserved for the most serious offences. Women diverted from custody and into community sentences, also have an associated cost to the taxpayer.

Dr Phillip Lee: At 31 March 20187, there were 2,271 sentenced females in the prison population for non-violent crimes (everything but violence against the person) and an additional 445 on remand. This information is publicly available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/offender-management-statistics-quarterly-october-to-december-2017. Her Majesty’s Prisons and Probation Service (HMPPS), does not calculate separately the average cost of prisoners by any type of offence. However, HMPPS routinely publishes average costs per prisoner, costs per prison place and overall prison unit costs for each private and public sector prison in England and Wales, including all categories of the women’s estate. This information is produced on an annual basis and is published after the end of each financial year. The most recent published figures, for financial year 2016-17, can be accessed on the www.gov.uk website from the following link: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/prison-performance-statistics-2016-to-2017. Prison unit costs can be found within the Excel document Costs per prison place and cost per prisoner by individual prison establishment in the ‘Cost by Establishment’ tab. The courts have a range of sentences at their disposal including community sentences, suspended sentences, fines and custodial sentences. Custodial sentences are reserved for the most serious offences. Women diverted from custody and into community sentences, also have an associated cost to the taxpayer.

Criminal Injuries Compensation: Offences against Children

Sarah Champion: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, if he will ensure that claims made through the Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority relating to child sexual abuse are only considered by caseworkers who have had specific training in the nature and effect on the individual of such abuse.

Edward Argar: The Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse published its Interim Report on 25 April. The Report contains a series of recommendations for specific changes, one of which was specifically directed at the Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority (CICA). This was that:- CICA ensures that claims relating to child sexual abuse are only considered by caseworkers who have specific and detailed training in the nature and impact of child sexual abuse.The Government welcomes the Report and is now considering the Inquiry’s recommendations very carefully. We will respond fully in due course.

Crime: Victims

Liz Saville Roberts: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, whether he has received representations on the Daily Mirror campaign for the introduction of a Victims law; and when his office plans to publish its strategy on the rights of victims of crime.

Edward Argar: Supporting victims of crime is a priority for the Government and we have made a commitment to publish a Victims Strategy this Summer. We are aware that the Victims’ Commissioner has backed the Daily Mirror’s call for a victims’ bill of rights. We are engaging widely, including with the Victims’ Commissioner, as we develop the strategy and we are looking at legislative and non-legislative options to give effect to it. We have not received any direct representations from the Daily Mirror about a victim’s law.

Antisocial Behaviour: Victims

Thelma Walker: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, whether he has made an assessment of the potential merits of bringing forward a compensation scheme for victims of anti-social behaviour; and if he will make a statement.

Edward Argar: The Government is committed to ensuring that all victims of crime, including crime that constitutes anti-social behaviour, receive the help and support they need. The Criminal Injuries Compensation Scheme (the Scheme) is a government-funded scheme that exists to compensate blameless victims of violent crime who have sustained physical or mental injuries. The rules of the Scheme and the tariff of awards to be paid are approved by Parliament, and the Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority (CICA) administers these rules independently of Government. Victims of anti-social behaviour who suffer physical or mental injury as a result of a crime of violence as set out in Annex B of the Scheme may be entitled to claim compensation from the CICA.

Criminal Injuries Compensation: Disqualification

Richard Burgon: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many people have been refused compensation by the Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority for having an unspent conviction by category of that unspent offence in 2018 to date.

Edward Argar: The Criminal Injuries Compensation Scheme clearly sets out that payments will be refused where the applicant has an unspent conviction specifically excluded by the Scheme. This includes convictions resulting in custodial sentences and community orders. In 2016/2017, CICA received over 31,000 new claims for criminal injuries compensation. Payments totalling over £142 million were paid out in the same year to victims of violent crime. The number of applicants who have been refused compensation by the Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority for having an unspent conviction from 1 January to 12 June 2018 is 790. Providing information about the category of that unspent offence could only be obtained at disproportionate cost.

Probation Hostels: West Yorkshire

Alex Sobel: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what recent assessment his Department has made of the adequacy of the number of beds available in probation hostels in West Yorkshire.

Rory Stewart: We have undertaken an examination of demand for Approved Premises places across England & Wales, taking account of existing demand and potential future demand. The results of this work will feed into our planning for future provision.

Prisoners' Release: West Yorkshire

Alex Sobel: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many prison leavers in West Yorkshire were staying in detention centres awaiting hostel beds during April 2018.

Rory Stewart: It is not the practice to place offenders leaving custody in detention centres to await the availability of a place in Approved Premises.

Prisons: Restraint Equipment

Gordon Henderson: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what the timetable is for rolling out (a) Pava pepper spray and (b) rigid police-style handcuffs across the prison estate.

Rory Stewart: Our hardworking prison officers must have the tools to do their jobs and that’s why we’re rolling out body worn cameras, ‘police-style’ restraints, and trialling pepper spray. We keep a close eye on the threats officers face to make sure they have what they need.We are currently piloting PAVA Spray, this will inform any decision on the further issue of PAVA to prison officers.Rigid Bar Handcuffs will be issued to prisons to replace the current ratchet cuffs. This will happen over 18 – 36 months in order to ensure staff are fully trained on how to use them.

Community Rehabilitation Companies

Liz Saville Roberts: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what preparations he has made to safeguard essential services in the event of a Community Rehabilitation Company (a) running into financial difficulties, (b) going into administration and (c) wishing to terminate its contract.

Rory Stewart: Community Rehabilitation Company (CRC) contracts require Exit Plans to be in place and maintained throughout the life of the contracts. These plans have been prepared in line with good contract management and standard industry practice. The content of the plans are specified in Schedule 24 of the contracts, which can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/community-rehabilitation-company-contracts. CRC contracts do not provide CRCs with an option to terminate the contract. We are in commercial discussions with providers to make sure we secure the quality of services we need from CRCs. All options remain on the table.

Prison Officers: Resignations

Liz Saville Roberts: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many prison officers in England and Wales left the Prison Service after less than (a) six months, (b) twelve months and (c) eighteen months from the start of their employment in each of the last eight years.

Rory Stewart: The Ministry of Justice has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Birmingham Prison: Prison Officers

Liz Saville Roberts: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many prison officers in England and Wales left the Prison Service while serving in HMP Birmingham after less than (a) six months, (b) twelve months and (c) eighteen months from the start of their employment in each of the last eight years.

Rory Stewart: Prison officer numbers across the prison estate are at their highest in five years, which is vital to ensuring prisons are safe, secure and decent. We commend all hard-working prison staff who do a vital job in protecting the public every day, often in very challenging, difficult and dangerous circumstances and we want all prison staff to stay and progress their careers. Private providers continue to play an important role in the prison estate, and have the ability to set their own recruitment and retention policies.This table shows the number of prison custody officers that left the Prison Service while serving in HMP Birmingham in the calendar years from 2010 to 2018.Length of service prior to leavingYear201020112012201320142015201620172018Total0-6 Months0021462579371546-12 Months0000144862312-18 Months00001346317Total0021613339346194

Prisons: Construction

Liz Saville Roberts: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what plans he has to build new prisons during the current Parliament.

Rory Stewart: The government set out its ambition for a reformed prison estate in the November 2016 Prison Safety and Reform White Paper. This included a commitment to build up to 10,000 modern prison places which will provide the conditions to enable governors to achieve better educational, training and rehabilitation outcomes. We remain committed to our previously announced plans subject to planning approvals, value for money and affordability.

Amey

Liz Saville Roberts: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what contractual sanctions would apply to Amey in the event of its failure to satisfactorily deliver facilities management work in prisons.

Rory Stewart: The performance of Amey is measured by the Department through a suite of key performance indicators and other management information. These employ a mix of both quantitative and qualitative measures to monitor Amey’s performance in delivering prison maintenance services. If the contractual performance indicators fall below the minimum acceptable level we will apply financial deductions. The contracts contain further clauses that enable alternative methods to improve or control contract performance. For example, the step-in clause enables Her Majesty’s Prison and Probation service to take over performance of a service from the supplier under certain circumstances and recover the costs. Private prisons achieve the vast majority of their performance targets, and are an important part of our reform plans. We continue to closely monitor the performance of all private prisons, and will take further action if and when required.

Birmingham Prison: Civil Disorder

Liz Saville Roberts: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, if he will publish his Department's report into the 2016 riots at HMP Birmingham.

Rory Stewart: In light of the conclusion of the criminal proceedings in relation to the serious disturbance at HMP Birmingham, and subject to there being no appeals, we have reviewed the position regarding release of the report into the major disturbance at HMP Birmingham. We plan to make the investigation report (suitably redacted to ensure that detailed security and any commercially sensitive information is protected) available on request to interested parties once we are assured all criminal proceeding are finally concluded.

Treasury

Tax Avoidance

Stephen Lloyd: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what recent steps HMRC has taken in respect of (a) disguised remuneration schemes and (b) the promoters of such schemes.

Stephen Lloyd: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what estimate he has made of the number of disguised remuneration schemes operating in the UK; and if he will make a statement.

Stephen Lloyd: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many individuals declared the use of a loan scheme on their tax return for the most recent year for which figures are available.

Stephen Lloyd: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many tax inquiries on disguised remuneration schemes have been open for more than than (a) five, (b) seven and (c) 10 years.

Stephen Lloyd: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many people  will (a) be affected by and (b) incur liabilities due to the 2019 Loan Charge; and of those people who (i) are or (ii) were accruing liabilities (A) doctors, (B) nurses, (C) teachers and (D) social workers.

Stephen Lloyd: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, with reference to the judgment in Murray Group Holdings and others v HMRC [2015] CSIH 77, what steps HMRC is taking to pursue (a) employers and (b) scheme operators for liabilities resulting from the 2019 Loan Charge.

Stephen Lloyd: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment he has made of the effect of the 2019 Loan Charge on the (a) contracting and freelancing sector and (b) economy.

Stephen Lloyd: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what estimate he has made of the number of people working in the NHS that will owe money as a result of 2019 Loan Charge.

Stephen Lloyd: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment he has made of the effect of the 2019 Loan Charge on the NHS .

Mel Stride: The charge on disguised remuneration (DR) loans is targeted at artificial tax avoidance schemes where earnings were paid via a third party in the form of ‘loans’ which in reality were never repaid. DR scheme users took home almost all of their pay tax-free. However, these schemes never worked and the amounts paid were always taxable under the law at the time. The Government has taken this action to ensure that everybody pays the taxes they owe and contributes towards the public-funded services from which they benefit. HMRC has provided a number of opportunities for DR scheme users to settle their tax affairs, and is actively encouraging scheme users to come forward and settle their tax position ahead of the loan charge arising. HMRC will help those who are in genuine financial difficulty by allowing them to pay their tax bill over time. The charge on DR loans is specifically targeted at these contrived tax avoidance schemes and is not expected to have significant effects on the economy or the NHS. The Government estimates that up to 50,000 individuals will be affected by the charge on DR loans. Further information can be found at the ‘Disguised remuneration: further update’ policy paper: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/disguised-remuneration-further-update/disguised-remuneration-further-update. The loan charge applies to all users of DR tax avoidance schemes. It does not single out a specific group or industry. No estimate of the number of individuals affected at sector level is available. Fewer than 30 individuals declared the use of a loan scheme on their Self Assessment tax returns for the 2016/17 tax year. No estimate has been made of the number of schemes currently operating in the UK. HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) continues to challenge avoidance schemes that are declared, and carries out extensive investigation work to track down those that are not. Enquiries into DR tax avoidance cases can be time consuming and take several years because of the very complex nature of the arrangements. HMRC also relies on the cooperation of scheme users to provide information and agree to pay the tax they owe. A breakdown of the number of DR cases open by the number of years they have been open is not available, as HMRC’s operational data is not held in a way where this information is readily accessible. Pay As You Earn (PAYE) liabilities fall on the employer in the first instance. The loan charge will not change this principle and HMRC will pursue employers who have used DR schemes for the tax that is due. HMRC will only go to the employee to settle their income tax liability in cases where it cannot reasonably be collected from the employer, for example where the employer is no longer in existence. HMRC pursues those who promote or enable tax avoidance schemes to ensure that nobody profits from selling avoidance. HMRC is able to charge tough penalties of up to one million pounds where promoters do not provide clear and accurate information to their clients, and penalties of 100% of the fees earned by anyone who designs, sells, or otherwise enables the use of tax avoidance arrangements. HMRC is proactively reporting DR scheme promoters to the Advertising Standards Authority and professional bodies where they make misleading claims about their products and services or provide misleading advice. HMRC will also consider criminal investigation where appropriate. Promoters of tax avoidance schemes have been prosecuted, leading to convictions and jail terms.

Liability

Paul Girvan: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of bringing forward legislative proposals for a duty of care in relation to the Financial Guidance and Claims Act 2018.

Paul Girvan: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what recent discussions his Department has had with the Financial Conduct Authority on the introduction of the duty of care; and what the process and timescale for that introduction will be.

John Glen: The government believes that the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), as the UK’s independent conduct regulator for the financial services industry, is best placed to lead the discussion on the merits of a duty of care for financial services providers. The FCA have committed to issuing a Discussion Paper on a duty of care later this year. The Paper will invite contributions from all interested parties on the case for and against a duty of care, what form such a provision might take, and consequential issues arising from adopting it. This will be an open process designed to gather views. In this context, the government welcomes the FCA’s continued commitment to this debate, and we do not think a legislative change would be appropriate at this time.

Students: Private Rented Housing

Andrew Gwynne: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to the Answer of 12 June to Question 149630 on student private rented housing; what estimate his Department has made of the expected contribution to the public purse of the removal of tax advantages from holding UK property through offshore companies.

Mel Stride: At Budget 2016 it was announced that, from July 2016, offshore property developers would be taxed on all the profits they make from developing UK land. The latest estimate of this measure’s yield is set out on page 212 of the Office for Budget Responsibility’s Economic and Fiscal Outlook: March 2018. The government announced at Autumn Budget 2017 that from April 2019 non-residents would be taxed on all the gains they make from UK land and buildings and from April 2020 the rental income received by offshore companies would be subject to the same tax rules and rates which apply to property income as UK companies. The estimated yield of these measures is set out in table 2.1 of the Autumn Budget 2017 document.

Students: Private Rented Housing

Andrew Gwynne: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to the Answer of 12 June to Question 149631 on students: private rented housing, whether he plans to devise a method to identify businesses that collect rental income from student accommodation.

Mel Stride: HMRC do not collect this information because identifying lettings expressly to students rather than to other persons does not lead to any specific tax effect. Collection of this further information by HMRC would require businesses to identify and distinguish between income received from the rental of student accommodation and that received through other rentals. This would impose additional reporting obligations on businesses.

Corporation Tax

Sir Mark Hendrick: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of increasing the level of corporation tax to fund the NHS.

Mel Stride: On 18 June, the Prime Minister set out that the NHS in England will receive an increase in funding over the next five years that equates to over £20 billion additional real terms funding a year by 2023-24. We need to ensure we can sustainably fund our NHS and other public services in the future, and we can’t just pass on extra debt to the next generation. So, as the Prime Minister set out on Monday, taxpayers will have to contribute a bit more in a fair and balanced way to support an NHS that we all use. The Chancellor will set out precisely how we do this in due course.

General Practitioners: Insurance

Julie Cooper: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how much funding his Department (a) plans to make available to the Department of Health and Social Care to implement a state-backed GP indemnity scheme in England and (b) what estimate he has made of the total cost to the NHS of that scheme.

Elizabeth Truss: As announced by the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care last year, the government is developing a state-backed indemnity scheme for general practice. Our ambition is to provide a more stable and affordable system for general practice professionals. A state-backed scheme could provide financially sustainable cover for claims arising from the delivery of NHS primary medical care services.This is a complex piece of work and decisions about pricing or costs are being considered. The Department for Health and Social Care has been working with the medical defence organisations that currently provide indemnity cover to GPs and with GP representatives on how a state-backed scheme could work. The government will continue to work with interested stakeholders, including GP representatives on the introduction of a scheme, including to explore how to fund new indemnity arrangements.

Financial Services: Misrepresentation

Kevin Hollinrake: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps (a) his Department and (b) the FCA is taking to raise awareness of the mis-selling of (i) non-insurance debt waiver and (b) debt freeze products.

John Glen: The regulation of payment protection insurance (PPI) and debt freeze and waiver products is a matter for the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA). We have passed the Honourable Gentleman’s questions on to the FCA, who will reply directly to him by letter. A copy of the letter will be placed in the Library of the House. Treasury Ministers and officials have meetings with a wide variety of organisations in the public and private sectors as part of the process of policy development and delivery, including regular meetings with the FCA to discuss relevant regulatory issues.

Treasury: Liability

Jon Trickett: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, on how many occasions his Department has been unable to notify Parliament of the particulars of a liability and thus fulfil the required 14 days’ notice prior to that liability going live in the last 12 months.

Elizabeth Truss: In the last 12 months there have been three occasions on which HM Treasury was unable, for reasons of commercial and market sensitivity, to provide Parliament with 14 days’ notice of the contingent liabilities being taken on. On 5 September 2017 the Houses were notified that an existing contingent liability in respect of the Bank of England Asset Purchase Facility had been extended on 3 August 2017 when Parliament was in recess. Although the PAC and TSC chairs were notified by letter on 3 August 2017 as the Houses were not sitting, the Houses would not in any case have been given advance notice for reasons of market sensitivity. Details are provided in HCWS108 and HLWS110. On 20 November 2017 the same contingent liability in respect of the Bank of England Asset Purchase Facility was extended further and Parliament was notified on this day. Advance notice was not given for reasons of market sensitivity. Details are provided in HCWS261 and HLWS260. On 26 April 2018 a contingent liability was taken on following the sale of Bradford and Bingley loans. Advance notification to the Houses was not given for reasons of commercial sensitivity. Details are provided in HCWS649 and HLWS628.

Financial Services: Misrepresentation

Kevin Hollinrake: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether (a) his Department or (b) the FCA plans to set a deadline for consumers to submit claims for the mis-selling of non-insurance debt freeze or debt waiver products similar to that set for PPI claims.

Kevin Hollinrake: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether (a) his Department or (b) the FCA treats non-insurance debt freeze or debt waiver products as PPI products for the purposes of adjudicating on consumer complaints.

Kevin Hollinrake: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether (a) his Department or (b) the FCA holds information on the number of complaints submitted to the Financial Ombudsman Scheme for the mis-selling of non-insurance debt freeze or debt waiver products that have been declined on the basis that they are not PPI products.

John Glen: The regulation of payment protection insurance (PPI) and debt freeze and waiver products is a matter for the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA). We have passed the Honourable Gentleman’s questions on to the FCA, who will reply directly to him by letter. A copy of the letter will be placed in the Library of the House.

Midland Metropolitan Hospital

Jonathan Ashworth: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, with reference to the minutes of the Sandwell and West Birmingham Hospital Trust’s Board Meeting which took place on 3 May 2018, what (a) checks and (b) approval processes his Department is undertaking on the preferred contractor of the new Midland Metropolitan hospital; which (i) Government departments and (ii) other stakeholders have been consulted on those checks and approval processes; and what the timetable is for the preferred contractor to be announced.

Elizabeth Truss: A preferred contractor to complete the build has yet to be secured. HM Treasury is engaging with DHSC and the IPA to ensure the hospital is completed as quickly as is possible. Any new arrangement will of course be subject to the approval of a business case which will include a value for money review.

Immigration: EU Nationals

Jo Stevens: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to the Answer of 11 June 2018 to Question 150168, on immigration: EU Nationals, what funding arrangments have been made for those increases and programmes.

Elizabeth Truss: My Written Ministerial Statement of 13 March 2018 set out that UK departments have been allocated £1.5bn to prepare for EU Exit. The Home Office was allocated £395m in 2018/19, which includes funding for the EU Exit Settlement Scheme.

Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government

Social Rented Housing: Fire Prevention

John Healey: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, with reference to his letters of 1 June 2018 to local authorities and housing associations, whether his Department considers all materials of A2 classification to be non-combustible.

James Brokenshire: Having listened carefully to concerns, the Government intends to ban the use of combustible materials on the external walls of high-rise residential buildings, subject to consultation.The consultation was published on 18 June 2018 and is available on line at: https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/banning-the-use-of-combustible-materials-in-the-external-walls-of-high-rise-residential-buildings

High Rise Flats: Fire Alarms

John Healey: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the Answer of 11 June 2018 to Question 149922, how many of the unsafe (a) social and (b) private tower blocks have fire and rescue service approved appropriate measures in place.

James Brokenshire: As at 22 May, our testing programme at the Building Research Established has identified 323 buildings with Aluminium Composite Material (ACM) cladding in England. Of these, 311 have cladding systems which the expert panel advise are unlikely to meet current building regulations guidance and therefore present fire hazards on buildings over 18 metres. Of the 311 buildings: 159 are social housing, 14 are public buildings, 106 are private residential and 32 are student residential.The National Fire Chief’s Council is confident when a fire and rescue service has been advised about a residential high-rise building with ACM cladding, the local service is working with relevant people and organisations to ensure risks are being managed properly and safely. This will also include - where appropriate – putting additional interim measures in place to ensure the safety of the residents. If new buildings come to light in the social sector or private sector, checks will continue to be carried out by fire and rescue services as soon as NFCC and the local fire and rescue service are notified.The National Fire Chief’s Council and fire and rescue services have not just confined their visits and inspections to high rise buildings with ACM cladding. Across the country fire and rescue services, through their regular risk based inspection programmes, and in some cases as part of specialised high-rise taskforces set up following Grenfell, have visited many hundreds of other high rise buildings, in both the private and social sector, for the purposes of inspecting the fire safety arrangements in buildings, providing fire safety and prevention information to residents, and for firefighters to familiarise themselves with the operational firefighting plans for buildings.

Housing Supply

John Healey: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether he has made an assessment of the effect of additional housing supply on the level of (a) housing affordability and (b) home ownership; and if he will make a statement.

James Brokenshire: The Government recognises that we must build the homes our country needs so everyone can afford a place to call their own. Last year we delivered 217,000 additional homes - the highest level for all but one of the last 30 years.My Department recently published analysis of the determinants of housing price changes and this can be found at the following link:https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/analysis-of-the-determinants-of-house-price-changes

Rented Housing: Students

Andrew Gwynne: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the Answer of 11 June 2018 to Question 149632, on Rented Housing, what recent representations his Department has received from private providers who deliver student accommodation.

James Brokenshire: The Department is not aware of having received any recent specific representations from private providers who deliver student accommodation about private companies and overseas investors that collect income rental from student accommodation. The Department does have an on-going working relationship with Unipol in relation to their national student accommodation code of practice for educational establishments.

Ground Rent

Royston Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what steps he is taking to ensure that ground rent increases are kept in line with inflation.

Mrs Heather Wheeler: The Government response of 21 December 2017 to the consultation on ‘Tackling unfair practices in the leasehold market’ set out a range of measures to cut out unfair and abusive practices within the leasehold system. This includes introducing legislation to prohibit the development of new build leasehold houses, other than in exceptional circumstances, and restricting ground rents in newly established leases of houses and flats to a peppercorn (zero financial value).To help existing leaseholders the Law Commission is reviewing the law on enfranchisement with a view to making it fair, faster, and cheaper for leaseholders to extend their lease or buy their freehold. They are also considering whether there needs to be a ban on transmitting unfair terms when a lease is sold on.

Parish Councils: Complaints

Daniel Kawczynski: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what mechanism is in place for members of the public to raise complaints about the operation of town and parish councils; and to which body such complaints should be directed.

Rishi Sunak: There are various mechanisms in place for members of the public to make complaints about their town or parish council.These include: using the parish council’s complaints procedure;raising the matter at the annual parish meeting; questioning, or making an objection to, the auditor during the public inspection period of accounts; or by joining with a group of local electors to call for a parish poll on the issue. In instances of councillor misconduct, complaints can be made to the principal council’s monitoring officer who can investigate.Central Government does not have the power to intervene in parish council matters and believes that the current local system of redress is proportionate to the sector and consistent with this Government's principles on localism.

Homelessness: Death

Neil Coyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what steps the Government is taking to tackle the number of homeless people dying.

Nigel Adams: The death of any homeless person is a tragedy. One person without a home is one too many and we are determined to tackle this issue, which is why this Government has committed to halve rough sleeping by 2022 and end it by 2027.In order to achieve this target I will be publishing a Rough Sleeping Strategy this July. As part of this work my Department has established the Rough Sleeping Advisory Panel and a cross-Government Taskforce. By drawing upon the knowledge of the Panel and the support from across Whitehall, the strategy will not only end rough sleeping by 2027, but in the meantime ensure the right support is provided to prevent rough sleepers dying on our streets.We have recently allocated £30 million that will be used to provide an additional 1,750 bed spaces for rough sleepers and an additional 531 dedicated homelessness workers ahead of next winter.Furthermore, the Government recently implemented the most ambitious legislative reform in this area in decades, the Homelessness Reduction Act, which will mean that more people will get the help they need sooner.

Domestic Violence: Victims

Daniel Zeichner: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, how much funding his Department has allocated to supporting victims of domestic violence per capita in each year since 2008.

Nigel Adams: Domestic abuse is a devastating crime which blights the lives of its victims that nobody should have to suffer.The Department does not hold information on funding per capita.Since 2014 we have invested £33.5 million in services that support victims of domestic. Our £10 million fund to local authorities in the 2014-2016 period helped 148 local authorities strengthen refuge provision for victims and offer support to women from outside their own area.In the 2015-2016 period the Department’s £3.5 million domestic abuse fund supported 46 local authorities and their partners to deliver 710 new bed spaces for 3,798 victims of domestic abuse.The Department's £20 million two year fund covering 2016-2018 supported 80 projects across the country, creating more than 2,000 bed spaces and giving support to over 19,000 victims and their families. Furthermore, 77 projects took up our offer of a share of the £1.1 million top up funding and received their funding allocations on 22 March 2018.

Homelessness: Refugees

Ruth Cadbury: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what steps he is taking to ensure that local authorities provide adequate support for newly-recognised refugees to prevent them becoming homeless.

Nigel Adams: No one should ever have to sleep rough and this Government is determined to break the homelessness cycle once and for all.The Government will release a strategy in July which will lay out how we will meet our commitment to halve rough sleeping by 2020 and end it altogether by 2027.To meet this commitment, we will need adequate support for all of those at risk, which is why on 8 June my Department announced £1.75 million to help new refugees, by funding 35 officers in 19 areas with some of the highest numbers of asylum seekers. The officers will support people granted asylum into housing, education and work.We will use the evidence gathered from this work to inform future provision for this cohort, and to ensure that no-one leaves Government supported accommodation with nowhere to stay.

Housing: Students

Sarah Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the Answer of 29 May 2018 to Question 145535, how many students are residing in the 31 student residences identified as having ACM cladding.

Dominic Raab: We do not hold information on the number of students residing in the 32 student residences identified as having Aluminium Composite Material (ACM) cladding.The Department established a Building Safety Programme to ensure high-rise residential buildings are safe, and residents feel safe in them.We have written to all local authority chief executives and asked local authorities to identify private sector high rise residential buildings over 18 metres tall in their area and to ensure appropriate building safety checking and remedial action is being undertaken, and to collate information on this so we can be reassured that all residents are safe.We provided financial support to local authorities for data collection and reporting on cladding on high rise private residential buildings, which we recognised as a new burden. The total amount transferred to local authorities was £289,000. The Government is providing further financial support totalling £1 million to assist the most affected local authorities in identifying these buildings.The National Fire Chief’s Council is confident when a fire and rescue service has been advised about a residential high-rise building with ACM cladding, the local service is working with relevant people and organisations to ensure risks are being managed properly and safely. This will also include - where appropriate – putting additional interim measures in place to ensure the safety of the residents.

Housing: Students

Sarah Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the Answer of 29 May 2018 to Question 145535, how many of the 31 student residential buildings identified as having ACM cladding have had that cladding removed and replaced.

Dominic Raab: We publish the most recent testing programme figures every month in a data release. The latest figures can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/building-safety-programme-monthly-data-release-may-2018.We are working to improve the quality of data available to help support Government efforts to ensure all unsafe Aluminium Composite Material cladding is removed.

Housing: Students

Sarah Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the Answer of 29 May 2018 to Question 145535, where the 31 student residential buildings identified as having ACM cladding are located.

Dominic Raab: We are not publishing address details because of the risk to public safety arising from potential malicious acts.Details of every building identified as having unsafe Aluminium Composite Material (ACM) cladding systems are provided to the relevant local authority and fire and rescue service and every building is visited by the local fire and rescue service to ensure appropriate safety measures are put in place.We publish the most recent testing programme figures every month in a data release. The latest figures can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/building-safety-programme-monthly-data-release-may-2018.We are working to improve the quality of data available to help support government efforts to ensure all unsafe ACM cladding is removed.

Housing: Students

Sarah Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, how many student residential buildings there are in the UK; how many student residential buildings have been tested for ACM cladding; and what steps are being taken to ensure that all student residential buildings are tested for ACM cladding.

Dominic Raab: The Government’s free testing service at the Building Research Establishment, available to all building owners since June 2017, has confirmed as of 22 May 2018, that 32 private student residential buildings over 18 metres in the private sector with unsafe Aluminium Composite Material (ACM) cladding.In August 2017, we wrote to all local authorities and asked them to identify private sector residential buildings over 18 metres with ACM cladding in their area. We have also asked local authorities to take steps to ensure that appropriate building safety checking and remedial action is being carried out on these buildings and to collate information on this so that we can be reassured that all residents are safe.We provided financial support to local authorities for data collection and reporting on cladding on high rise private residential buildings, which we recognised as a new burden. The total amount transferred to local authorities was £289,000. The Government is providing further financial support totalling £1 million to assist the most affected local authorities in identifying these buildings.

Ministry of Defence

Military Aid

Dr Matthew Offord: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what plans his Department has to provide military support to NATO allies in (a) Estonia and (b) Iceland in the next 12 months.

Mark Lancaster: The UK provides military support to its NATO Allies in many ways, and the next 12 months will be no different. For example, in Estonia the UK will continue to be the Framework Nation for NATO's enhanced Forward Presence, with an 800-strong armoured battlegroup deployed there. We will also conduct Air Policing from Estonia and Iceland in 2019. In addition, UK forces will take part in range of exercises and training activities with their Estonian and Icelandic counterparts.

South Korea: Joint Exercises

Mr Kevan Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what recent contributions the UK has made to UN Command-led exercises in South Korea.

Mark Lancaster: The UK contributed 54 personnel to the recent UN Command-led Exercise KEY RESOLVE, held in April 2018.

Joint Strike Fighter Aircraft

Mr Kevan Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what the cost to the public purse was for training UK armed forces personnel to (a) operate and (b) service the Northrop Grumman AN/AAQ-37 Distributed Aperture System used in F-35B aircraft.

Guto Bebb: Information on training costs for the F-35B Lightning project is not held on a system by system basis and could be provided only at disproportionate cost, if at all.

Defence: Radar

Mr Kevan Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what the support cost is for each radar per year of the (a) BAE Systems and (b) Lockheed Martin long range air defence radar support contracts; and what the reasons are for the difference in those costs.

Guto Bebb: It is not possible to provide a breakdown or comparison of support costs for each individual radar. This is because each support contract is negotiated on an individual basis, taking account of varying factors; such as the number and age of the radar systems, their location, the scope of support provided, and the length of the contract.

Royal Fleet Auxiliary: Procurement

Mr Kevan Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what weighting will be given to National Security Objective 3 during the bid selection process for future Royal Fleet Auxiliary Fleet Solid Support Ships.

Guto Bebb: The selection criteria for future Royal Fleet Auxiliary Fleet Solid Support Ships are currently under development and it would therefore be inappropriate to comment in detail at this time. In all cases procurers have to assess whether any of the diverse issues set out in National Security Objective 3 are relevant to their procurement. Weighting of all relevant factors is applied on case-by-case basis, but must not prejudice fair competition.

Singapore: Defence

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what assessment he has made of the future of security and defence cooperation between the UK and Singapore following the Shangri La Dialogue Asia Security Summit.

Gavin Williamson: I was pleased to sign a Defence Cooperation Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with Singapore whilst attending the Shangri La Dialogue Asia Security Summit. This MOU formalises our existing close defence and security relationship and outlines continued cooperation in areas such as Cyber, Non-Conventional Warfare, Counter-Terrorism, Counter-IED, Maritime Security and Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Relief operations. It also reaffirms our cooperation in science, technology and capability development ensuring that our nations continue to work together.

Military Bases: Security

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what steps his Department is taking to increase security for strategic command and control bases overseas.

Mark Lancaster: Security of all our Defence bases in the UK and overseas is constantly reviewed in light of threats and risks. We do not comment on specific measures or posture as to do so would, or would be likely to prejudice the capability, effectiveness or security of the Armed Forces.

Department for Work and Pensions

Universal Credit

Mrs Sharon Hodgson: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if she will take steps to ensure that after the full roll-out of universal credit no person has their benefits sanctioned in the event that they (a) reduce their earnings to claim entitlement to free school meals or (b) decide not to increase their earnings in order to avoid losing entitlement to free school meals and either option leaves them better off overall.

Alok Sharma: The conditionality requirements and support available to claimants are designed to be flexible, personalised and responsive to their needs. Imposing a sanction when someone has not met their requirements is not something we do lightly. When considering whether a sanction is appropriate, a Decision Maker will take into account all the claimant’s individual circumstances, including any health conditions or childcare responsibilities and any evidence of good reason, before deciding whether a sanction is warranted.

Universal Credit

Ian Mearns: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what plans her Department has to introduce a minimum protected income within the universal credit system to ensure that claimants are not left in poverty after any deductions are taken from their monthly award.

Alok Sharma: The Government recognises the importance of safeguarding the welfare of claimants who have incurred debt. Universal Credit already has procedures and regulations in place protect claimants from excessive deductions. The maximum rate of deductions cannot normally exceed 40% of the Universal Credit standard allowance. If a claimant is in financial difficulty as a result of the level of deductions being made they can contact the Department to request that a reduction in deductions be considered.In January 2018, of all Universal Credit Full Service awards:(a) 6% had a total deduction amount (either to a third party, for an advance, or for a fraud penalty) which equalled 40 per cent of the standard allowance(b) Less than 0.5% had a total deduction amount which exceeded 40 per cent of the standard allowance. In these cases, a priority order is applied so that deductions for rent or fuel costs are applied first, in order to protect claimant welfare.

Personal Independence Payment

David Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether her Department has plans to introduce the video recording of personal independence payment assessments.

Sarah Newton: Yes, we are starting behavioural testing with claimants and health professionals over the summer, followed by a live testing pilot later in the year, which will inform wider rollout decisions

Personal Independence Payment: Appeals

Mr Stephen Hepburn: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answer of 3 April 2018 to Question 125594 on Personal Independence Payment, what assessment she has made of the reasons that 59 per cent of Personal Independence Payment appeals were decided in favour of the appellant in HMCTS North East Region between October 2016 and September 2017.

Sarah Newton: As of March 2018, of the 3.3m decisions made since PIP was introduced, 4% have been overturned at appeal. The majority of decisions are overturned because of the oral evidence provided by the claimant at the hearing; and because of new written evidence not previously seen by the Department’s decision makers.

Universal Credit

Frank Field: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what plans her Department has to ensure that claimants previously in receipt of severe disability premium of employment and support allowance are not financially worse off after moving to universal credit.

Alok Sharma: Holding answer received on 19 June 2018



We are committed to supporting disabled people and continue to review the Universal Credit claimant experience and processes. Earlier this month we announced that claimants in receipt of the Severe Disability Premium will qualify for transitional protection when they move to Universal Credit. We will backdate these payments for those who have already moved to Universal Credit, to cover the period between their move to Universal Credit and the introduction of the new payment. Further detail can be accessed in the Secretary of State’s Written Statement HCWS745, made on 7 June: https://www.parliament.uk/business/publications/written-questions-answers-statements/written-statement/Commons/2018-06-07/HCWS745

Pension Credit

Helen Goodman: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many claimants of (a) jobseeker's allowance and (b) employment and support allowance have not been contacted by her Department when they have reached state pension age and qualify for pension credit in the latest period for which figures are available.

Guy Opperman: The Department for Work & Pensions is unable to provide this information as the data is not collected and would only be available at disproportionate cost to the Department.

Universal Credit

Frank Field: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many and what proportion of universal credit couple households are in work.

Alok Sharma: The information requested is not readily available and to provide it would incur disproportionate cost. However the latest available Universal Credit statistical data published on 12 June shows that, of the 920,000 people on Universal Credit as of 10 May 2018, 37 per cent were in employment. This data can be accessed at: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/715159/universal-credit-statistics-to-10-may-2018.pdf

Universal Credit

Frank Field: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many and what proportion of universal credit claims are calculated automatically.

Alok Sharma: The following figures show over the previous 12 months, the number of Universal Credit Full Service payments which have been created automatically as a percentage of the total number of Universal Credit Full Service payments created. These are Universal Credit Full Service claims that were live at the end of the given month defined by the Universal Credit Official statistics caseload data. Payment monthTotal payments calculated automaticallyTotal payments createdPercentage of payments calculated automaticallyMay-1771,61091,70078%Jun-1781,430101,55080%Jul-1792,250114,43081%Aug-17106,200127,54083%Sep-17120,080143,91083%Oct-17136,030162,26084%Nov-17155,670181,01086%Dec-17182,140208,68087%Jan-18209,830236,92089%Feb-18255,160285,38089%Mar-18303,770333,49091%Apr-18334,190377,58089%

Personal Independence Payment

Ms Angela Eagle: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to her Written Statement of 15 June 2018, on personal independence payments, HCWS767, what methodology she used to determine that around 1000 claimants will be affected.

Sarah Newton: The methodology takes all claimants in scope. This includes those who received a decision or were in receipt of PIP during the period 28 November 2016 (the date of the Upper Tribunal decision in LB) to 16 March 2017 (when the amendment to activity 3 made in the March 2017 amending regulations came into force). Of these, it identifies those considered to be most likely to be affected by the judgment, which includes claimants currently assessed as needing support to manage medication or monitor a health condition, and with a main disabling condition considered most likely to be affected. It then applies an estimated change in descriptor to a proportion of these cases to reflect a possible increase in award due to applying the judgment. Finally, for those who see a change in their activity 3 descriptor, the number seeing an increase in their PIP daily living award is calculated.

Personal Independence Payment

Ms Angela Eagle: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to her Written Statement of 15 June 2108, on personal independence payments, HCWS767, whether previously unsuccessful personal independence payments claimants for daily living allowance 3 who had their claims refused after March 2017 will now have their claim reviewed according to a (a) LEAP exercise, (b) full case review or (c) any other review.

Sarah Newton: The March 2017 amending regulations clarified the original policy intent. The Upper Tribunal judgment in LB only affects the period before the amending regulations and the claimants outlined in the Written Statement HCWS767 will be included in the review. As stated in this update, my Department has now begun work to implement LB judgment in the best interest of all affected claimants for the period 28th November 2016 to 16th March 2017.

Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs: International Fur Trade Federation

Dr David Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what meetings have taken place between Ministers or officials of his Department and representatives of the International Fur Traders Association from 2010 to date.

George Eustice: Our records do not show any meetings between Defra Ministers or officials and the International Fur Traders Association from 2010 to date.

European Chemicals Agency

Hywel Williams: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps his Department has taken to prepare for setting up a UK chemicals agency in the event that the UK cannot remain part of the European Chemicals Agency after the UK leaves the EU.

David Rutley: One of Defra’s 40 workstreams preparing for leaving the EU is developing, and includes a new system to enable registration and regulation of chemical substances placed on the UK market if access to the EU’s REACH system is not available. The plans we are working on set out detailed delivery timelines for activities such as: recruiting and training new staff, designing and procuring IT systems and delivery of the necessary legislative and regulatory changes. These timelines are extensively reviewed to ensure we remain on track. The Government’s priority is to maintain an effective regulatory system for managing and controlling chemicals to safeguard human health and the environment, responding to emerging risks and allowing trade with the EU that is as smooth as possible. The Withdrawal Bill will convert current EU law into domestic law wherever practical, giving consumers and businesses as much certainty as possible. This includes laws relating to chemicals.

Countryside Stewardship Scheme

Sir Geoffrey Clifton-Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment he has made of the (a) effectiveness of the introduction of the mid-tier countryside stewardship scheme and (b) the effect of the introduction of that scheme on processing existing (i) entry and (ii) higher level stewardship claims.

George Eustice: Almost 6,000 mid-tier agreements under Countryside Stewardship (CS) are currently in place. A further 10,500 Mid-Tier applications packs have been requested for agreements that would start on 1 January 2019, an increase of 39% on last year. Natural England, who currently administer the scheme, have been under severe pressure and this has resulted in delays to the issuing of agreements and the processing of payments. We have been working hard to address this, by, for instance introducing 75% bridging payments to CS agreement holders who have yet to receive either an advance or full payment. Agreement offers for the 2018 period were all issued by end-May, allowing agreement holders to submit their claim by 15th June.

Alabama Rot

Victoria Prentis: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether his Department is carrying out research to evaluate the cause of and potential threats posed by Alabama Rot to dogs in the UK; and if he will make a statement.

George Eustice: A private veterinary group is coordinating an investigation into the cause of the syndrome known as cutaneous and renal glomerular vasculopathy (CRGV) in the UK, which is sometimes referred to as Alabama rot. The Animal and Plant Health Agency has been engaging with this investigation since the outset and continues to do so.

Alabama Rot

Victoria Prentis: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether he has had discussions with the Chief Veterinary Officer on including Alabama Rot as a notifiable disease in the UK; and if he will make a statement.

George Eustice: Ministers have discussed the syndrome known as cutaneous and renal glomerular vasculopathy (CRGV) in the UK, which is sometimes referred to as Alabama rot, with the Chief Veterinary Officer. The pathogen for the syndrome has yet to be confirmed, and as there is no diagnostic test for the syndrome in living dogs, there are currently no plans to make CRGV a notifiable disease. CRGV poses no risk to human health.

Water

Alex Sobel: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what plans he has to decrease water wastage.

David Rutley: The 25 Year Environment Plan sets out our ambitions for reducing the demand on water resources. This includes plans to improve water efficiency and support for Ofwat’s ambitions to reduce leakage by 15% by 2025.

Home Office

Offences against Children

Sarah Champion: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what the timescale is for bringing forward proposals to establish (a) levels of public expenditure and (b) measures to assess the effectiveness of that expenditure on services provided by his Department for child victims and adult survivors of child sexual abuse in line with the recommendation of the Interim Report of the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse, published on 25 April 2018.

Sarah Champion: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what the timescale is for bringing forward proposals in line with the recommendation of the Interim Report of the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse, published on 25 April 2018, to amend the Police Regulations 2003 to include the requirement that a police officer and staff equivalent (a) have operational policing experience in preventing and responding to child sexual abuse and (b) achieve accreditation in the role of the police service in preventing and responding to child sexual abuse to progress to Chief Officer level.

Sarah Champion: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what the timescale is for bringing forward proposals for the College of Policing to develop training content and accreditation arrangements for officers on preventing and responding to child sexual abuse, in line with the recommendation of the Interim Report of the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse, published on 25 April 2018.

Sarah Champion: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what the timescale is for bringing forward proposals to prevent complaints relating to child sexual abuse being disapplied by police forces on the grounds that the incident involved took place more than 12 months before the complaint was submitted.

Victoria Atkins: The Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse published its Interim Report on 25 April. The Report contains a series of recommendations for specific changes, several of which are directed at Government. The Government welcomes the Report and is now considering the Inquiry’s recommendations very carefully. We will respond fully in due course.

LGBT People: Hate Crime

Dawn Butler: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps the Government is taking to reduce the level of hate crime towards LGBT+ people.

Victoria Atkins: The 2016 Hate Crime Action Plan set out a cross-Government strategy to tackle hate crime, including hate crime motivated by hostility towards an individual’s sexual orientation or transgender identity. We will be refreshing the action plan later this year, considering further commitments with key partners including the Government Equalities Office in the light of the forthcoming LGBT Action PlanExamples of recent actions helping to tackle hate crime against LGBT people are: £900,000 for local projects to tackle hate crime in communities including 3 projects focused on LGBT hate crime; funding for the National Police Chiefs’ Council to establish a national online hate crime hub; and commissioning Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire & Rescue Services to carry out a thematic hate crime inspection.In addition, the Home Office has worked in partnership with Kick It Out, football’s equality and inclusion organisation and True Vision, the police hate crime reporting portal, to release a series of informative and engaging resources that raise awareness of homophobic, biphobic and transphobic (HBT) discrimination within football stadia.

Females: EU Grants and Loans

Sarah Champion: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what estimate he has made of the amount of funding that specialist women’s services in the UK currently receive from the EU.

Sarah Champion: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether the Government plans to fully replace EU funding for specialist women’s services after the UK leaves the EU.

Sarah Champion: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what estimate he has made of the amount of funding specialist services to support victims and survivors of child abuse and sexual and domestic violence in the UK currently receive from the EU.

Sarah Champion: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether the Government plans to fully replace EU funding for specialist services to support victims and survivors of child abuse and sexual and domestic violence after the UK leaves the EU.

Victoria Atkins: I refer the Hon. Member to the answer given on 27 April 2018 to UIN 136480.

Domestic Violence

Daniel Zeichner: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what additional funding his Department plans to allocate to local authorities as a result of the additional duties they are required to undertake under the Domestic Abuse Bill.

Victoria Atkins: On 8 March we launched a 12 week public consultation on proposals for a landmark domestic abuse Bill and a supporting package of practical action to transform the response to domestic abuse. The consultation closed on 31 May.Over 3,200 responses to the consultation were received. The responses to the consultation are being considered. A Government response to the consultation, including consideration of any potential impact on local authorities and other agencies and the draft Bill will be published later this sessin.

Cabinet Office

Cabinet Office: Apprentices

Jack Lopresti: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what levels of apprenticeships are offered by his Department; and how many apprenticeship starts there were at each level in each of the last three years.

Oliver Dowden: Apprenticeships in Cabinet Office can be started at levels intermediate, advanced, higher and degree. Overall apprenticeship starts in the Cabinet Office in England were as follows in each of the last three years.   TotalIntermediateAdvancedHigherDegree% of workforceApril 2015 – March 201655Data not available2.5%April 2016 – March 2017530252801.98%April 2017 – December 2017270111600.52% Please note that we are awaiting finalised data for the period January-March 2018. Note that apprentice starts outside England were With the introduction of the apprenticeship levy in May 2017 our trajectory assumes slower growth at the beginning with starts increasing over time. This allows the necessary infrastructure to be put in place to ensure high quality apprenticeships are offered. The Cabinet Office contributes to the Civil Service commitment to deliver 30,000 new apprenticeship starts by 2020 with over 10,000 starts already achieved. The Cabinet Office recognises that apprenticeships are an effective means of employers developing their own talent and are a vital part of the Government’s plans to build a sustainable, balanced economy designed to extend opportunity to more young people. We are also contributing to the wider Government aims of tackling youth unemployment and inspiring young and ethnically-diverse people to see the Cabinet Office, and Civil Service, as an employer of choice. Cabinet Office is working to the Civil Service Apprenticeship Strategy and is offering apprenticeship opportunities where possible at all levels. This will be via new recruitment and the conversion of existing staff.

Cabinet Office: Procurement

Philip Davies: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many contractors have been employed by his Department for (a) up to one year, (b) between one and five years, (c) between five and 10 years and (d) over 10 years.

Oliver Dowden: The Cabinet Office utilises contingent labour to supply specialist skills and capability not readily available within the Civil Service. As at 22nd May 2018 the breakdown of contingent labour contracted in the Cabinet Office, by length of contract is detailed below. (a) up to one year(b) between one and five years(c) between five and 10 years(d) over 10 years62742000 These figures refer to all contingent labour who have been contracted in the Cabinet Office for the time period specified at any point during the last a) one year, or b) five years. Additional information about the numbers and costs of contingent labour working in the Cabinet Office (including temporary staff) is published monthly and 2017/18 statistics are available at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/cabinet-office-workforce-management-data-2017-to-2018.

Absent Voting: British Nationals Abroad

Cat Smith: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what the implications are for the Government's policies of recommendation 20 of the report of the Association of Electoral Administrators entitled It’s time for urgent and positive Government action: The AEA’s review of the 2017 local government elections and the UK Parliamentary general election, published in September 2017, on the Government evaluating the effectiveness and future use of the International Business Response Licence for postal votes being sent overseas ahead of the next set of national polls.

Chloe Smith: The Government is committed to ensuring that electors can cast their vote and will continue to look for ways to assist electors to do so. The International Business Response Service is a means of assisting the return of postal votes from abroad and helped to ensure that over 80,000 postal votes were recorded back from overseas by Royal Mail leading up to polling day on 8 June 2017. Almost 100,000 items were recorded back from overseas at the EU Referendum in 2016. The Electoral Commission evaluated its use after the 2016 Referendum and decided it was value for money in terms of the number of votes returned by the process and recommended we use it for the General Election.

Labour Turnover

Martyn Day: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, whether he has made an assessment of staff turnover levels in the (a) private and (b) public sector; and if he will make a statement.

Martyn Day: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, whether he has made an assessment of the difference in staff turnover rates between able-bodied and disabled employees in the (a) private and (b) public sector; and if he will make a statement.

Martyn Day: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what assessment he has made of the level of staff turnover rates for (a) men and (b) women in the (i) private and (ii) public sector.

Chloe Smith: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the Authority to reply.



UKSA response 
(PDF Document, 218.37 KB)

Public Sector: Procurement

James Frith: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many and what proportion of businesses delivering public procurement projects in England are SMEs.

Oliver Dowden: This information is not centrally held, as each department is responsible for its own procurement. Since January 2011, details of central government contracts above the value of £10,000 are published on Contracts Finder. Contracts published prior to 26 February 2015 can be viewed at: https://data.gov.uk/data/contracts-finder-archive. Those published after 26 February 2015 can be viewed at: https://www.contractsfinder.service.gov.uk/Search As of the end of May there are 40,797 individual users from 26,242 organisations registered on Contracts Finder, 17,727 of these (68%) are SMEs.

Construction: Billing

James Frith: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, whether his Department has made an assessment of the effect of the provisions of the Public Contracts Regulations 2015 which impose a 30-day payment term duty on public bodies on improving payment behaviours in the construction industry.

Oliver Dowden: Through the Public Contract Regulations 2015, public sector buyers must include 30-day payment terms in new public sector contracts; and require that this payment term be passed down the supply chain. Public sector buyers must also publish annually on their payment performance on GOV.UK. We strongly encourage businesses to report poor payment practice and instances of late payment, including late payment through the supply chain, in public sector contracts to our Mystery Shopper service to investigate. We are also working with public sector construction procurers to drive the use of Project Banks Accounts (PBAs) to facilitate faster, more transparent and certain payments in the construction supply chain. This eases cash flow through the system and supports closer working within the supply chain.

Government Departments: Unpaid Work

Stewart Malcolm McDonald: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many people have undertaken unpaid work in each Government department since 2016; and how many of those people were not subsequently offered a full-time equivalent paid position.

Oliver Dowden: The Cabinet Office does not hold this information centrally.

Multiple Births

Steve McCabe: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many multiple births there were in England in 2017.

Chloe Smith: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the Authority to reply.



UKSA response 
(PDF Document, 66.42 KB)

Science and Technology Honours Committee: Scientists

Nic Dakin: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many scientists sit on the UK Honours Science and Technology Committee.

Oliver Dowden: Four members of the Science and Technology Honours Committee are scientists by background. Membership of the Committee can be found at https://www.gov.uk/guidance/honours-committees.

Department for International Trade

Trade Agreements: Japan

Bill Esterson: To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, whether he has had discussions with cabinet colleagues on making Japanese employees exempt from visa quotas in any future UK-Japan trade agreement.

Greg Hands: My Rt Hon Friend the Secretary of State for International Trade regularly discusses trade policy issues with Cabinet colleagues. The UK does not have commitments on visa quotas in any free trade agreement. We are seeking continuity in our trade and investment relationship with Japan. The Prime Minister and the Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe agreed in August 2017 to ‘work quickly to establish a new economic partnership between Japan and the UK based on the final terms of the EU-Japan Economic Partnership Agreement’.

Customs Unions

Bill Esterson: To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, whether he has had discussions with Cabinet colleagues on the effect of the UK entering a customs union with the EU after the UK leaves the EU on future trade deals with third party countries.

Greg Hands: My Rt Hon. Friend the Secretary of State for International Trade has regular discussions with his Cabinet colleagues on a variety of topics. We are leaving the Customs Union and have presented two potential options for our future customs relationship with the EU: the New Customs Partnership and the Highly Streamlined Customs Arrangement. The government will be guided by what delivers the greatest economic advantage to the UK and by our strategic objectives: to keep trade with the EU as frictionless as possible; to avoid a ‘hard border’ between Ireland and Northern Ireland and to establish an independent international trade policy. Leaving the Customs Union will allow an independent UK trade policy to reach ambitious and innovative trade agreements with the world's fastest-growing economies.

Solar Power: Import Duties

Mary Glindon: To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, what representations the Government has made to the European Commission on the imposition of tariffs on the solar technology sector; and what the Government's policy is on that subject.

Greg Hands: Holding answer received on 18 June 2018



The Government has not made recent representations to the European Commission concerning the anti-dumping and anti-subsidy measures against imports of solar panels from China. The UK opposed the Commission’s renewal of the anti-dumping measures and supported the renewal of the anti-subsidy measures in March 2017. The measures are due to expire in September 2018, unless the Commission opens Expiry Reviews to determine whether the measures should be maintained. The Department for International Trade published a call for evidence on the 28 November 2017 with the aim of identifying which UK businesses produce goods currently subject to anti-dumping, or anti-subsidy measures, or to on-going investigations related to these.It asked those businesses to state whether they support, are neutral to, or oppose the maintaining of those measures, when the UK begins to operate its independent trade remedy framework. It asked for data about those businesses’ production and sales, and total UK production and sales. The Call for Evidence closed on 30 March 2018. However, we continue to invite other interested parties to provide relevant information for measures of interest to them. This will enable us to make an accurate assessment of applications to maintain measures.

Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport

Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport: Data Protection

Mr Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what percentage of the data held by his Department is hosted outside the UK; and if he will make a statement.

Margot James: We will write to the Rt Hon member with the requested information. A copy of the letter will be placed in the House library.

Heritage Lottery Fund: Northern Ireland

David Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, how much funding from the heritage lottery fund was allocated to projects in Northern Ireland in each of the last three years.

Michael Ellis: The table below outlines the funding per year and the number of projects that Heritage Lottery Fund have awarded to projects in Northern Ireland: Financial YearProjects FundedAmount Awarded2015-1659£15,029,7002016-1758£15,155,5002017-1864£15,617,200Grand Total181£45,802,400

Film and Television

David Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what meetings he has held with (a) television and (b) film production companies on the effect of the UK leaving the EU on the UK film and TV industry in the last 12 months.

Margot James: The government has engaged extensively with TV and film production stakeholders on the impact of exiting the EU. Over the past year, DCMS has organised a number of ministerial roundtables as well as bilateral meetings with broadcasters, and television and film production companies on the topic of Brexit and related issues, including the potential effects of our exit from the EU for these companies.

Gambling: Internet

David Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, if his Department will introduce legislative proposals on limiting the time for which a user can be active on an online gambling site or app.

Tracey Crouch: Online gambling operators are required under the Gambling Commission’s Licence Conditions and Codes of Practice (LCCP) to give players the option to set time and spend limits online. The Government is also working with the Gambling Commission on a clear plan to further protect children, young people and the vulnerable as discussed by the Gambling Commission’s review of online gambling in March 2018 (http://www.gamblingcommission.gov.uk/PDF/Online-review-March-2018.pdf) and the Government’s response to the consultation of changes to gaming machines and social responsibility measures in May 2018 (https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/707815/Government_response_to_the_consultation_on_proposals_for_changes_to_gaming_machines_and_social_responsibility_measures.pdf ) This will include ensuring operators set limits on consumers’ spending until affordability checks have been conducted; banning operators from providing free-to-play demo games until a consumer’s age has been determined and improving the speed and effectiveness of age verification processes. Other measures include tackling unacceptable marketing, advertising and unfair terms and improving complaints and dispute procedures and strengthening requirements to interact with consumers who may be experiencing problems with their gambling and looking at the issue of whether gambling on credit cards should continue to be permitted.

Theatre: Young People

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, pursuant to the Answer of 13 June 2018 to Question 149988, on theatre: young people, which the organisations have benefited from the funding outlined in the table in each of the last three years.

Michael Ellis: The attached table outlines those organisations which have benefited from the funding​ detailed in the Department's answer of 13 June 2018 to ​Question 149988​.



Arts Funding Youth Theatre 2015-18
(PDF Document, 359.71 KB)

Northern Ireland Office

Northern Ireland Government

Mr Paul Sweeney: What recent steps she has taken to help restore devolved government in Northern Ireland.

Chris Elmore: What steps she is taking to help restore power-sharing in Northern Ireland.

Karen Bradley: The Government continues to engage closely with the political parties and the Irish Government as appropriate, to restore the Executive. This remains a top priority.

Education: Northern Ireland

Layla Moran: What recent assessment she has made of trends in the level of expenditure on shared and integrated education in Northern Ireland.

Mr Shailesh Vara: This Government is committed to supporting the expansion of Shared and Integrated Education and to that end has set aside up to £500m to develop shared and integrated education in Northern Ireland. The Secretary of State was delighted to underline this commitment in Omagh on Monday where she announced the allocation of £140m to the Strule Shared Education Campus. This campus will bring together 4,200 children from across traditional divides in a world class education facility transforming the delivery of education in the area.

Women and Equalities

Civil Partnerships

Tim Loughton: To ask the Minister for Women and Equalities, with reference to the command paper, Future operation of Civil Partnerships, Cm. 9606, published in May 2018, what specifications her Department issued on the opinion polling to be conducted when appointing an organisation to undertake opinion polling on demand for extending civil partnerships; and for what reasons the Office for National Statistics was so appointed.

Victoria Atkins: This survey is intended to help us understand how many unmarried people in an opposite-sex relationship may enter into a civil partnership if the option was open to them.Creating a new survey mechanism to ask a small number of questions would have been disproportionately time-consuming and would not have been efficient, so it was decided to use an existing polling structure.The ONS Opinions and Lifestyle survey offered the only regular omnibus survey of the general population using a random sample, rather than drawing on pre-screened panels.

Parental Leave

Dawn Butler: To ask the Minister for Women and Equalities, what recent discussions she has had with (a) maternity and (b) paternity groups on measures to improve the take-up of shared parental leave.

Victoria Atkins: The Government is committed to enabling parents to balance work and care in a way that works for them. Shared Parental Leave allows eligible parents to share childcare between them in the crucial early months. This is good for parents and children, as well as being an important way to address the Gender Pay Gap in the UK.In order to promote and improve take-up of Shared Parental Leave, GEO and BEIS have launched a £1.5m communications campaign encouraging parents to ‘Share the Joy’. As part of this work, GEO and BEIS worked with a wide range of parents groups including Working Families and the National Childbirth Trust.We continue to work with stakeholders on how to improve take-up, and how to further increase understanding and awareness of Shared Parental Leave.

Females: Directors

Dawn Butler: To ask the Minister for Women and Equalities, with reference to FTSE women leaders: Hampton-Alexander review, published by the Government in November 2017, what steps the Government is taking to ensure that the voluntary target of 33 per cent of FTSE 100 boardroom seats are held by women by 2020 is met.

Victoria Atkins: Since 2011, the percentage of women on FTSE 100 boards has more than doubled, going from 12.5% to 27.7% in 2017. There are now no all-male boards in the FTSE 100 down from 21 in 2011. This is great progress but we must go further. We are supporting the Hampton-Alexander Review to meet their targets of women holding 33% of senior leadership positions and 33% of board positions in the FTSE 350, by 2020. The Government Equalities Office and The Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy provide secretariat, policy and analytical support to the Review. We will continue to work closely and collaboratively with business to support them in meeting these targets and ensure that progress on this agenda continues.

Sanitary Protection: Low Incomes

Grahame Morris: To ask the Minister for Women and Equalities, if she will take steps to ensure provision of free sanitary products to low-income families.

Victoria Atkins: The Prime Minister has been clear that she is committed to building a country that works for everyone, not just the privileged few – and this means helping ordinary working people with the cost of living.The government is supporting those on low incomes through the introduction of the National Living Wage, increases in the Personal Allowance, freezes to fuel duty, and increasing childcare support for working families.We are clear that no girl should be held back from reaching her potential because of her gender or background and we support schools in addressing the needs of disadvantaged pupils through the provision of the Pupil Premium funding, equivalent to almost £2.5bn of additional funding this year alone. Schools have discretion over how they use their funding and can make sanitary products available, if they identify this as a barrier to attendance.In 2015, the Government announced a £15m annual Tampon Tax fund to support women’s charities, equivalent to the amount of VAT raised on sanitary products. In the most recent round of Tampon Tax Funding, we welcomed applications which addressed this issue and on 26th March, we announced that Brook Young People would receive a grant of £1.5million for their project in the UK, ‘Let’s Talk. Period.’.